Murnaghan Interview with Sarah Olney, Lib Dem candidate for Richmond Park by-election, 27.11.16

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SKY NEWS – MURNAGHAN – 10.00 – 27.11.16 – INTERVIEW WITH SARAH OLNEY, LIB DEM CANDIDATE FOR RICHMOND PARK BY-ELECTION

SOPHY RIDGE: For Zac Goldsmith this vote is all about Heathrow but for his Lib Dem rival, there’s a bigger issue at play, Brexit.

SARAH OLNEY: We actually started our campaign talking about Heathrow but as we went around and we were talking to voters, what we found was that Brexit was the thing they really wanted to talk about.  People are really concerned about the future for this country once we’ve left the EU and they are really anxious about what’s going to happen next.  

SR: What position are you standing on?  You are effectively saying that the referendum should be re-run?

SARAH OLNEY: No, that’s not what we’re saying.  What I said in my campaign is that if Article 50 comes to parliament I will vote against invoking it and the Article 50 decision happened after the campaign started but what we really want, once it’s clear what terms we are going to leave the EU under, what it means for free trade, what it means for freedom of movement, once we’re clear about all of those terms, to put that to the people in another vote so that they get a clear choice between the actual terms of leave and remain.

SR: So it is another referendum in effect?

SARAH OLNEY: It’s a second referendum but it is not re-running the first referendum, it is very much the next step.

SR: It is more about blocking the first referendum.

SARAH OLNEY: Not at all, it’s about making sure we have carefully considered all of the implications of leaving the EU and we are making a considered decision.

SR: Now I’m a bit confused because you did write a blog page previously where it was a slightly different message. You said Britain’s leaving the EU, okay I accept that, I don’t think that we should re-run the referendum.  

SARAH OLNEY: So I wrote that blog page before the Article 50 decision was made and that was at the time when we would have a vote in parliament on whether or not to remain.  I have actually been completely consistent, I want us to remain in the EU, that’s what I really, really want and if we can’t do that then at the very least we need to remain in the single market, nothing I wrote in my blog post contradicts that.

SR: Well it says here Britain is leaving the EU, okay I accept that but you are saying you are wanting to remain in the EU.

SARAH OLNEY: Absolutely I want to remain in the EU, there is nothing in my blog page that says …

SR: But you accept Britain is leaving the EU but you want to remain in the EU, for me that is a bit of a contradiction isn’t it?

SARAH OLNEY: I don't think it is, it’s kind of one thing that I personally really, really want to remain but the country voted to leave so that’s where we’re at, the country voted to leave but I still think it’s in our best interests to remain so that’s what I will be fighting for if I win this by-election.

SR: But accepting the EU referendum result surely means accepting that Britain is leaving the EU but you are saying you’ll vote against Article 50.

SARAH OLNEY: As I said, I wrote the blog page before the Article 50 vote, before the article 50 decision in parliament so at the time I wrote the blog post we didn’t know there would an option to vote to remain.

SR: How much of the pressure are you feeling ahead of this by-election?  There has been lots of talk about a Lib Dem fight back but this is the moment that everyone is going to be focusing on isn’t it?

SARAH OLNEY: Yes, I mean I’m not thinking too much about the implications, I’m just working really hard on this campaign, I’m doing everything I can to help us win it.  I’ve got a good team round me, I’ve got loads of volunteers coming from all over the country, we’ve got a really, really positive vibe and we are just going to do the best we can.

SR: Do you worry that if you lose then all those council election victories, all those parish council votes will be ignored and actually people will be talking again about the fact that the Lib Dems are actually not doing well when it comes to the elections that really matter?

SARAH OLNEY: I think we’ll have to wait and see what the result is on Thursday. I’m not thinking about what will happen after that.