Sophy Ridge on Sunday Interview with Andy McDonald Labour MP

ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO SKY NEWS, SOPHY RIDGE ON SUNDAY

SOPHY RIDGE: We are joined now by the Shadow Transport Secretary, Andy McDonald, who joins us from his constituency, good morning to you. We just heard from the lawyer for Julian Assange who said that the support from Jeremy Corbyn, tweeting to say he shouldn’t be extradited to the US, was welcome. Do you agree with your leader?

ANDY McDONALD: Yes, I don’t think he should be extradited to the US. What I think should happen is he should be going to Sweden to face investigation there. The women that have been allegedly assaulted have been without access to justice and we’ve got to stand with victims of sexual crime. There is an allegation of rape here, now there is a prima facie case made out, my understanding is the only reason the Swedish authorities have not prosecuted the case is simply because they couldn’t get him into a Swedish court, it isn’t because they were satisfied there was no evidence against him and there is no case to answer. On the contrary, there is a case to answer and he needs to be in a Swedish court answering the allegations that were made. Now I find it just peculiar that the Swedish authorities were not informed of his arrest, yet the American authorities clearly were so there has been obvious and clear choreography and orchestration between the UK and the US and yet the principal and the most serious charge that he could allegedly face is that of rape. We’ve heard Charlie Faulkner give his legal opinion on that very issue and this man should be extradited to Sweden if that’s what the Swedish authorities are wanting to do and that’s how it should work.

SR: Okay, loud and clear there. Now let’s move on to Brexit because the cross-party talks are continuing. I’ve got a horrible feeling that they are only continuing because neither party wants to be blamed for being the one who pulls out of the talks, are they really going anywhere?

ANDY McDONALD: Well I hope so. It’s been broken down into distinct work streams around the consumer rights, environmental matters and workers’ rights, trying to find ways in which to embed those principles into an agreement. I think that’s going to be a difficult task because we’re told ad nauseum that the Withdrawal Agreement isn’t capable of being opened which only leaves us with the political [deferation]. My worry about that is that people are putting their best endeavours to work but if there is a change in the leadership of the Conservative party that might all count for nothing and that’s the worry. I think my colleagues are trying their very best through this so that they can have those assurances that any progress that is made is embedded and entrenched in that way.

SR: Labour MEPs are warning today that if Jeremy Corbyn fails to back a second referendum it could mean millions of people stopping voting Labour as a result. Is a second vote still a red line for the Labour party when it comes to these talks?

ANDY McDONALD: Well not only have we said of course we’d want a second referendum, a public vote, in the case of a no deal or a bad deal but we also voted for the Kyle-Wilson amendment but sadly the numbers don’t exist in Parliament currently to get that across the line so we do have to redouble our efforts in terms of these negotiations and see if we can find a way through but I think that …

SR: But is it a red line?

ANDY McDONALD: Well Richard Corbett made a very interesting intervention today, it’s not new, I am very familiar with the argument that we should have a public vote for any agreement, I am also very aware that a lot of my colleagues up and down the country from Leave seats find that difficult. So this is not a new dilemma for us but I think we have to take these issues stage by stage and we are now involved in serious discussions and negotiations and I want to see where those discussions and negotiations take us before we can go on to the next stage of this long and awful process, because we’ve said consistently that we respect the outcome of the referendum but we don’t respect the way in which Theresa May has gone about this and has put us in this dreadful position, we are against it and it’s her fault entirely.

SR: Andy McDonald, I’m sorry, we are out of time, thank you very much for being on the show.