Sophy Ridge on Sunday Interview with Caroline Flint MP

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

SOPHY RIDGE: Joining us now is the MP for Don Valley, a constituency which includes Conisbrough and its castle which you saw just now.

CAROLINE FLINT: Thank you for going to Conisbrough and stepping outside the town centre.

SR: Not at all, it’s always good to break out to different towns as well as the cities or the bigger towns that we all tend to go to. When I went to Conisbrough and Doncaster as well the thing that kept coming up again and again for a reason why people voted to leave was immigration, is that your experience?

CAROLINE FLINT: I think it was a major factor, not just in the referendum, I think this has been brewing for a decade or more. People’s concern about how immigration is managed, I think there are some employers who have exploited the free movement rules for example through agencies wholesale recruitment of people to work in local firms and I think generally as far as these things are concerned, they’ve been pushed to one side and it’s not that my constituents are against all immigration, that’s not the case. I’ve done my own surveys and I’ve found that to be the case and I think that’s mirrored nationally as well, I think there’s a very small minority of people who don’t want any immigration at all but they do want to feel we have a fair and managed migration system. In some ways, Sophy, I think the referendum created the bubble if you like in which that particular issue was given voice.

SR: You have spoken before about your constituents being insulted by other politicians. Do you think that some MPs, perhaps even Labour MPs as well from London, from some of the bigger cities, don’t really understand your constituents’ concerns, look down on them perhaps?

CAROLINE FLINT: I don't think they understand them and I think their choice of words is patronising and I have to say, on occasion, offensive. I mean even on social media, I never go out on social media to troll people but whenever I stood up for the people I represent and not just in Doncaster but let’s remember every region in England outside of London voted Leave and their voice, you immediately get trolled and shut down and some of the language that is used by some politicians and some involved in the People’s Vote campaign and some of these others who want to overturn the referendum, is patronising.

SR: What language do you mean?

CAROLINE FLINT: Oh well, you know, uneducated, ill-informed, they didn’t know what they were voting for, they didn’t know it meant this, that and the other. The truth is actually I think people did have an understanding about the consequences, they knew that it would be seismic in terms of our country, all of that was put forward by the Remain campaigners including myself, Sophy, because I campaigned for Remain in my own constituency but the truth is people felt that they wanted to be outside the EU, they definitely wanted to feel like every other major country outside the EU, they wanted more control over immigration and for my part, I feel that we need to get a deal. We need to get a reasonable deal so that we don’t crash out without one because I think that would be detrimental.

SR: We talked about the no deal scenario there and you saying that it will be detrimental to your constituents, does that mean that you can envisage a scenario where you could support a deal that Theresa May came back with even if the Labour policy was to vote against?

CAROLINE FLINT: Well look, I hope that Labour can support a reasonable deal and looking at Labour’s six tests on for example that we should have protection for workers’ rights, the environment and other matters, I think most of those a reasonable deal would tick those boxes but it’s not about supporting Theresa May, it’s about supporting what I said in the general election just over a year ago. I promised to respect the vote in 2016, to support the best deal for Doncaster but also to not support a second referendum so what I’m looking for in all of this is a reasonable deal and the problem is we are now, those of who want to get a deal are sometimes stuck between a rock and a hard place, between hard line Brexiteers who think we can waltz off without a deal and I’m afraid some hard line Remainers who for their own reasons don’t want a deal because it would overturn the referendum result.

SR: So if the rough offer that we think Theresa May is proposing at the minute was on the table, which is effectively Chequers, a backstop involving keeping the UK in the customs union, is that something you could support?

CAROLINE FLINT: Well forgive me if I hold myself until I see the final deal because I have to say we have had so many summits where we’ve been led up the hill with [inaudible] but yes, do you know what, if we can have something that ensures that we can have a close relationship with the single market, a customs arrangement where we obviously have protections in terms of EU nationals that are here but also Brits in other parts in the EU, that during the transition – and don’t forget Sophy, I mean I don't think Labour has taken enough credit for some of the positive changes that have occurred in the last few years. I mean Kier was arguing for a transition period two years ago, he’s argued for better protection of EU nationals and he has talked about workers’ rights and the environment and taking on a lot of the EU regulation into our own legal framework. We have actually won many of those demands so I feel that if a deal that comes back which will have to have the support of the other 27 EU members, I think if a deal like that comes back it cannot be called a hard Brexit and I would have to very much weigh up what my decision is and, to be honest, if it’s a reasonable deal that meets all those requirements that I’ve put forward to support a deal, then I think I would.

SR: So there are reports that up to 30 Labour MPs could end up supporting the sort of deal you describe, do you think that’s roughly accurate?

CAROLINE FLINT: I’m really not sure but I think if a reasonable deal is on the table, the question I think for some of my Labour colleagues is why wouldn’t you support a deal? Why would you stand along Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees Mogg who wants us to crash out without a deal and that’s the choice behind us. So if there was a vote of no confidence in parliament, in this government, and you talked about Universal Credit earlier on in the programme, I would be there with Jeremy Corbyn and other colleagues voting for a vote of no confidence against the government but this isn’t about a vote of confidence, this is about whether we crash out of the EU without a deal and I really don’t think that serves the public’s interests and I don't think it serves Labour’s interests to be seen to be doing that but it’s got to be the right deal and that’s why we’ve got to make sure that those of us who want a deal actually push for that and don’t allow the no-dealers to take control.

SR: Okay, Caroline Flint, thank you very much.

CAROLINE FLINT: Thank you.