Sophy Ridge on Sunday Interview with Claire Perry Conservative MP

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

SOPHY RIDGE: Now after almost seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Julian Assange was arrested this week and now faces possible extradition to Sweden where he has been accused of rape or to the US where he faces charges of conspiracy. The Home Secretary will have a key role to play in his case and we are joined now by one of his colleagues, the Energy Minister, Claire Perry, from her constituency in Wiltshire. Hello, thank you for being on the programme this morning.

CLAIRE PERRY: Hi Sophy, good morning.

SR: Julian Assange has always said that as soon as he left the Embassy then he would face extradition to the US and he’s been proved right. Are you concerned about what extraditing him would mean?

CLAIRE PERRY: Well I don't think I’m going to comment too much on the live details of that case but clearly the actual warrant for going into the Embassy was based on the extradition request. I know there are live legal charges against him and we’ll let the legal process play out.

SR: He also faces allegations in Sweden as well doesn’t he, of rape and sexual assault as well. It seems that whilst the US and Ecuador were aware the arrest was going to happen, Sweden wasn’t actually aware but if they do submit an extradition request, do you think that should take precedence over the US?

CLAIRE PERRY: Oh gosh, you are assuming I know the ins and outs of the law. Again, I’ll let justice take its course.

SR: You must have an opinion though.

CLAIRE PERRY: Well my opinion is he is a gentleman for whom there are pending legal inquiries we’ve been able to seek by him and also not being a particularly delightful house guest by the sound of it and the process of the law has caught up with him and it will deal with him as appropriate.

SR: But what’s your view though, do you think that he should face the charges – well not charges but face the allegations that were brought in Sweden?

CLAIRE PERRY: Oh absolutely. If you have, and this has been part of the challenge I think, that for too long allegations of sexual assault or rape have been rather dismissed and we’ve seen in the last few years that they have actually quite rightly been taken seriously so the courts will decide the validity of those challenges and then which takes precedence in the overall extradition. As I say, I’ll let our excellent judicial system decide that.

SR: Okay, well let’s move on to some other issues shall we, Brexit is never far away. According to the poll of polls in the Sunday Telegraph, if there was an election now then Labour would be the largest party, Jeremy Corbyn would have the keys to Downing Street and according to the President of the British Polling Council, it is because of the government’s failure to deliver Brexit. Are you worried that the Conservative party are going to be punished for the fact that we haven’t left the EU yet?

CLAIRE PERRY: Yes. I was listening carefully to what Iain Duncan Smith was saying and I think he is absolutely right. I think there is such a sense of frustration that we wanted to be out by March 29th, we could have been out and the reason we’re not out is that a number of colleagues, well colleagues in my party on both sides, were hard over on Leave, hard over on Remain plus the opposition couldn’t support what I think was a perfectly acceptable divorce agreement if you like, the Withdrawal Agreement, and it is just so frustrating. And by the way, that chance is still there. Although we had the extension which none of us wanted, if we can pass the Withdrawal Agreement, a Withdrawal Agreement, in the next three weeks then we will be out and we won’t be fighting the European elections and I agree, it seems really silly and daft to be doing that when the opportunity to not do that is absolutely in our grasp. But I was listening very carefully to what Iain said and of course Iain voted for the Withdrawal Agreement as I did, I voted for Brexit at every opportunity. The challenge is I think we have to face the world as we find it, not as we would want to see it and we have an acceptable pragmatic Withdrawal Agreement, we also have a parliament that wouldn’t support no deal – it’s made that very clear – and constituencies like mine, you can see this is an agricultural constituency, whether we are here, whether we are in Cumbria, whether we’re in the West Midlands, we have listened to businesses and the millions of jobs that they create who have said that a no deal Brexit is completely unacceptable. Iain talked about the backstop very knowledgeably, the backstop in my view will never be triggered because it has been absolutely clear that both the UK and the EU want a future trading relationship so I think what’s really important is it’s Easter, there’s a chance to slightly reflect in the sunshine on what’s been happening. It’s been an awful fractious divisive time, parties like the Brexit Party to me are just an absolute blast from the past and what we should be doing is looking for areas where we can come together and create common ground and deliver Brexit and talk about the stuff that we matters – we’re discussing with all the energy and passion and pain our future relationship with Europe over the next 18 months, two years, what I want to be talking about is what’s happening with the climate, what are we going to do to move to a green Brexit? It is entirely within our grasp, create those hundreds of thousands of jobs in the low carbon economy and continue to be a world leader in cutting carbon emissions. So I think all of us are glad not to be in Parliament this week but we have to be using this time to reflect on how we actually come together rather than looking for ways to move further apart.

SR: You are talking there about the divisions that are moving people further apart, our first interview this morning was with Anna Soubry who was saying …

CLAIRE PERRY: I heard, yes.

SR: She was saying she doesn’t really feel as if she can be a member of the Conservative party now because it’s the party that’s changed, not her. She says she looks at people Boris Johnson, like Jacob Rees-Mogg, like Mark Francois and she says she feels she has more in common with MPs like Chuka Umunna and Luciana Berger, do you understand where she’s coming from?

CLAIRE PERRY: I do and I also understand Anna, who has been a passionate Conservative for decades and she is a real loss to the party, it’s always really sad when you lose colleagues from all sides of the political spectrum, but you know, the Conservative party has always been a really broad coalition. Iain would tell you about the debates that happened over Maastricht and how we managed to keep wonderful people like Iain and also Ken Clarke in the party.

SR: Is it becoming less broad?

CLAIRE PERRY: Well I don't think so. I think what’s happening is because Brexit was not a party line vote and Brexit absolutely divided the country right down the middle and divided both political parties right down the middle, what we’ve got to do is say seven out of ten of my colleagues, including me, represent a constituency that voted to Leave and six out of ten of the Labour party MPs represent Leave constituencies, we have to find that common ground and deal with Brexit which is a very specific, and in my view, non-party issue. We are all democrats, we sit in Parliament, cross-party democrats and we should be focused on delivering that referendum result but what joins us as a party is our values, is our desire to build a future where everyone can get along, our desire to have a well-balanced economy so that we can invest in public services. Those values are still completely intact and that’s why I remain perfectly comfortable in the Conservative party, albeit really keen to get through this period of dissent and turmoil which is not pleasant for anybody, and focus on the future.

SR: We have got another six month delay, a sizeable delay to Brexit. You were saying there you don’t believe there is any parliamentary majority for no deal, honestly do you think there is now a chance that we might not actually leave the EU?

CLAIRE PERRY: No, I don’t. I think there is a pretty clear Parliamentary majority not to have a second referendum of any sort and also not to revoke. Honestly speaking, I campaigned to Remain, I have absolutely accepted the result of the referendum. I describe myself now as a kind of moderate Brexiteer, I can see the opportunities that are out there from Brexit and I think so many of us feel that in Parliament so for me, we were sent there to do all sorts of things including deliver this Brexit result and it would be a real abrogation of duty of MPs to say we can’t decide so we’ll pass these really complicated questions back over to people watching at home so that they can really agonise about Brexit for the next few years. I don't think so, I think Brexit will happen. We are so close to getting this withdrawal agreement, the divorce agreement, over the line and we just need people to focus on coming together and compromise. I think actually when I go out round the country, people are saying why are you not working together to solve this? As much as I agree with Iain, I think Jeremy Corbyn would be an absolute disaster as Prime Minister, but I know that the [inaudible] of the Labour party when it comes to Brexit, they want to get out, many of them, that’s what most of their MPs represent in their seats, there has to be common ground and the first rule in politics by the way is have you got the numbers and we have to get the numbers.

SR: Okay, a quick one, the climate change protest group, Extinction Rebellion, are planning two weeks of protest to focus on climate change obviously, they are the ones if you recall who stripped off in the public gallery of the Commons.

CLAIRE PERRY: Yes, I saw.

SR: What did you make of them?

CLAIRE PERRY: Well I’m with anybody who is passionate about solving the crisis of climate change and I’m really interested to meet with anyone but I have to say, as I told them then, what I am interested in is solutions and not tactics that are incredibly disruptive and I am afraid that the solutions they had, there weren’t any. They want us to declare a war, well I wouldn’t think we have declared a war on this, it has become a fundamental part of our government policy that we continue to reduce our emissions. We have led the world in cutting our carbon emissions, Mrs Thatcher was the first person who ever talked about man’s impact, humanity’s impact on the climate so what I’d say to them is we hear you loud and clear, there is no need to create mayhem for millions of people to get your message across. Focus on the solutions that we need to deliver, how are we going to capture carbon from heavy industry, how are we going to sort out transportation, how are we going to develop alternative fuels so that people can continue to fly – which is an important part of economic activity – without further pollution? I am interested in solutions, I think we need more solutions and less protest.

SR: Okay, Claire Perry, thank you very much.

CLAIRE PERRY: Thanks Sophy.