Sophy Ridge on Sunday Interview with James Brokenshire Housing Secretary

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

SR: Well there have been lots of rumours about threats to Theresa May’s leadership over the summer, even since last year’s general election we’ve had a Boris Johnson intervention, we’ve got more rows about Brexit so lot’s to talk about with our next guest, including of course his very important brief on housing, James Brokenshire joins us now in the studio, thank you very much for being here.

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: Thank you Sophy.

SR: Now I want to start out with your housing brief and you’ve been writing to private landlords effectively ordering them to remove unsafe cladding in the wake of Grenfell. I mean how many people could be affected by this?

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: Well we know that there are around 300, just over 300 properties in the private sector, high rise residential buildings where we’ve identified that there could be this unsafe ACM cladding that was linked to Grenfell. A number of actually come forward, to be fair there have been a number of good organisations, good developers who have said no, we’re going to get on with the remediation, we’ve had insurers and others that equally have come to the fore but there have been a number that haven’t and I think that’s unacceptable. Some of them have tried to put the pressure onto the leaseholders within those buildings to put the cost onto them and that’s why I have been writing to them to say do the right thing, get on with this, don’t think about putting this cost onto others.

SR: Some people listening to this will be thinking, hang on, if lives were effectively at risk, if the cladding is unsafe, doesn’t the government need to be doing a bit more than just writing a few cross letters?

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: Well what we’ve done for example in relation to the public sector side, we’ve committed to fund that, about £400 million is the cost associated with that and that work is progressing and indeed there are steps that the private sector are taking, there is a new Ministerial led programme to really push that and equally, on the private sector side, yes, I’ve underlined the enforcement that can be taken but I am also working with the industry and I’ve had a number of meetings with them now to come up with a solution to deal with this properly and firmly because ultimately it is about public safety, that’s what drives me and we want to see this issue dealt with as quickly as possible.

SR: Now another of your big ideas as Housing Secretary is this idea that if you are a renter you should be guaranteed somewhere to live for three years when you sign that contract. There are lots of rumours that that idea is effectively hitting a bit of a road block in the form of the Treasury and Number 10, so who is the Conservative party on the side of – renters or private landlords?

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: Well I want to see longer tenancies, that side of things coming in, for a number of reasons. There is the security and stability that that brings, equally that ability for people to challenge landlords if there is shoddy practice and on the fact of homelessness and rough sleeping, something again that I have been very passionate about, a lot of this …

SR: But is it going to happen?

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: … is linked to people losing that private sector rental. So we are looking at the consultation, that has now closed and obviously I want to reflect further before coming up with what the right plan is but that is very, very firmly is how we have been looking at ways in which we can encourage that, we can promote that and obviously I’ll be considering the consultation and considering [accepts].

SR: Okay, a very diplomatic answer. Let’s talk about Boris Johnson who is on the front page of a lot of the newspapers today. I’m very interested to know your thoughts on the former Foreign Secretary’s intervention where he is effectively saying that Theresa May has wrapped a suicide vest around Britain and handed the detonator to Brussels. I mean this sounds like the start of a leadership campaign.

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: Well I know there are very strong feelings on this and indeed Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, in the same newspaper I think underlined that, about how the Prime Minister has I think the clear plan and the clear leadership to take this forward. Now Boris has obviously expressed his views in different terms, I think he’s wrong on this, I think the tone that he’s used isn’t right and I think that we just need to be very focused on actually moving forward with the Chequers plan. That is the plan that provides the solutions, that’s where our focus is and yes, there’s nothing new that comes from this article. We know that Boris does feel strongly on this but ultimately it is about getting on with the job, getting that negotiation and getting the right deal for our country which is what the Prime Minister is committed to do.

SR: But how do you feel as a supporter of the Chequers plan, when you wake up on a Sunday morning, you get your cup of coffee, you open your newspaper and there is Boris Johnson on the front page saying that she’s wrapped a suicide vest around the country?

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: Well I firmly don’t accept that and when we look at what the …

SR: Are you exasperated, are you frustrated?

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: I don’t get knocked off direction and I think that’s where the Prime Minister firmly is, her resolute attention on negotiating, standing firm, ensuring that we do take back control of our borders, our laws, not seeing large payments going to the EU and equally as well, on dealing with the issue of the Northern Ireland border, on the really crucial issues that sit behind the Belfast Good Friday Agreement which actually is what so much of this is about, that free flow of people, of goods across that border which has created that stability and that environment and why it matters so much but ensuring that that does not compromise the sovereignty of our United Kingdom which is why getting it right east-west and north-south is absolutely at the heart of where the Chequers agreement is.

SR: You are right to say how crucial Northern Ireland is when it comes to weaving a way through Brexit, now I have to ask you about some of the comments that were made, very honest comments you could argue, by the woman who took over as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Karen Bradley. She said, a very startling admission about when she first got the job, ‘I didn’t understand things like when elections are fought in Northern Ireland, people who are nationalists don’t vote for Unionist parties and vice-versa.’ You can see it just behind us on the screen, is that a startling admission or is it refreshing honesty? Were you a bit worried when you read that?

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: I think Karen Bradley is doing a fantastic job and I should know, having done that role sadly before I had to stand down for illness, and she has come forward this week I think with a very clear plan on actually how the powers can continue to operate in this issue of uncertainty and instability in Northern Ireland, the cut in salaries for the MLA’s there and actually trying to create this environment where we can get an executive and I think what Karen was really talking about was the fact that when you spend time there, the depth of that feeling, the strength of view that people have, that’s where you really feel that and see that, when you spend that time there and I think it is that sense of driving things forward. I have worked with Karen in the past, she is strong, she is determined and that’s why I think it is right that everyone gets behind her and actually gets on to the politicians in Northern Ireland to see that coming together, how an executive devolved government is what Northern Ireland needs to really get the growth, the opportunity that I saw again there when I was there two weeks ago.

SR: So what surprised you then when you took that job?

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: I think that it’s obviously the level of the challenge. I spent some time going round talking to the politicians. Interestingly, Secretaries of State going back before me, one of the first pieces of advice that you are given is to get a history book and it is that sense of the history of the place and getting that level of depth and spending the time there. So yes, of course it is a place of great duty, the people are passionate and there are so many opportunities there and I think that sense of the opportunities I saw and I continue to see in Northern Ireland is what drove me forward as a Secretary of State on doing the right thing and I know it is that passion that Karen shares too.

SR: A very passionate defence there for Karen Bradley. Now looking forward, the MPs have had their summer recess break of course, Chequers is the deal that is on the table at the minute, finding a solution to Brexit is all important with time running out. I’m interested to know if you feel that Chequers is really still alive because we know that the EU are probably going to ask for more concessions. If they do ask for more concessions it is going to be very hard to get it through the House of Commons, is Chequers still really alive and kicking or is it effectively dead?

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: Absolutely, Chequers is the plan that we are negotiating with the EU. We obviously are waiting to hear back from them on their formal response and I think it is interesting to note that over the summer there has been a lot of engagement with the members states, the individual countries of the EU and the responses that we have been receiving, they have been much more positive, much more favourable than perhaps some of the narrative that we have heard from the Commission and Michel Barnier who clearly it is not within his remit that he’s been given, it does challenge some of those orthodoxies but it is a plan that is able to deliver what we need, not from the UK as well but also looking at this in trading and ensuring that we are able to take control of our borders, take controls of our laws, ensuring that we are not seeing those large sums of money but allowing us positively to look to the future on what we can be as a country and that’s why firmly it is what the Prime Minister is taking forward.

SR: Okay, James Brokenshire, thank you very much.

JAMES BROKENSHIRE: Thank you.