Sophy Ridge on Sunday Interview with Rebecca Long Bailey Shadow Business Sec

Sunday 13 January 2019

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

SOPHY RIDGE: We have been focusing a lot on the government’s plan this morning but what about Labour’s? Well to try and get to the bottom of it we’re joined from Salford by the Shadow Business Secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, thank you for being with us. So two days until the Prime Minister puts her plan to Parliament, Labour has said that you want to vote against it so let’s get specific now because this is really important. What would Theresa May have to do, what assurances would she have to get from Brussels for Labour to support her Brexit deal?

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: Well I don't think assurances are enough. We’ve been stating from the outset what Labour would like to see from a deal. We’re nowhere near that unfortunately and we’re nowhere anybody else’s red lines across Parliament because we don’t think that Theresa May will have a majority on Tuesday, even from her own back benchers let alone the Labour party but we do think that a deal can be found within Parliament that would be able to provide the consensus not just within Parliament but across Britain but the government has had two years to deliver on that and they have found themselves to be incapable of doing that, which is why we are pushing quite strongly in the event of Theresa May’s deal falling that a general election should be called.

SR: What I am struggling to work out is what would need to change for Labour to accept the deal? What is it that you want?

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: Well there are a number of issues – the customs union backstop is a key issue. We have been arguing for a permanent customs union deal with a right for Britain to have a say in future trade deals. What we have on the table is nowhere near that, it provides for a customs arrangement for Britain, it is a completely different arrangement for Northern Ireland and it doesn’t provide any certainty about what our future customs arrangements are going to be, let alone what our overall agreement with the EU is going to be. The political declaration is extremely ambiguous, it’s deficient in a number of areas – workers’ rights, security, our future trading relationship and I’m afraid after two years that simply isn’t good enough. We’ve been stating that we want a deal that provides us with a strong single market relationship, we want to have strong collaboration with the EU and we want existing rights and protections but not just that, we expect the UK government to keep up with improvements in labour law, with health and safety, with environmental rights.

SR: We having been hearing on the show that Labour wants a general election, that’s a policy that seems absolutely crystal clear so when are you going to call a confidence motion in the government? Will it be this week if Theresa May loses that vote?

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: Well we’ve always said it’s a case of when, not if and Jeremy is judging the situation day by day. We’ll wait and see what happens on Tuesday and we’ll act at the appropriate time.

SR: But no plans as to when that’s going to be? It seems extraordinary that you are so desperate for an election and yet you can’t give any idea on when you would be likely to call one.

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: Well of course the odds of us tabling a vote of no confidence increase dramatically in the event that Theresa May’s deal falls but also the decision rests with Jeremy and it is up to him to determine when we do put forward that vote of no confidence but it certainly is a case of when, not if.

SR: Okay, above your pay grade on the actual date on which it’s called, I understand. Now in the election that Labour are so keen to get, I am just trying to work out would you campaign for Brexit or against Brexit?

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: Well our current manifesto states that we respect the result of the referendum and we want a deal that puts our economy first. Now ultimately of course when we go through the next manifesto making process we’ll have those discussions within the Labour party but that is our position. At conference we agreed a wide ranging policy that stated that we wanted to have a general election in the event that Theresa May’s deal fell and that was to avoid a no deal impasse but also to ensure that we could put forward our deal and it would provide a consensus across Parliament but in the event that all of that failed, we wanted to keep all options on the table because it’s critical to avoid a no deal situation.

SR: Okay, it sounds like you would be campaigning for Brexit but a different kind of deal negotiated. Now I am just trying to really get some clarity on what Labour wants to do. Last week on the show Barry Gardiner suggested that actually what would happen is that Labour would have an election, they would renegotiate a deal and then put that negotiated deal back to the British people in a referendum. Is that party policy?

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: That’s not official party policy at this stage. I mean the policy that we agreed at conference was to call a general election, try to secure the best deal that we possibly can and in the event that that’s not possible over any other issues, we had all options on the table and the specifics of the policy that would go into our manifesto, we’re a democratic party and that would be discussed at the appropriate time when we were putting together the manifesto. But to be as clear as I possibly can, we have always said that we have respected the result of the referendum, we have always said that we wanted to secure a good deal for Britain but in the event that that seems impossible or a no deal situation seems to be hurtling towards us, we’ve been very clear within the party that all options will remain on the table but our priority has always been making sure that we get that deal.

SR: Okay, last week we saw some pretty horrific images of MPs being surrounded by protestors, being labelled Nazis and being shouted at. Anna Soubry, the Conservative MP, has given an interview in the last week where she says that she won’t event stand close to the edge of the platform on the London Underground because she is worried about people pushing her into the path of a train. Is it frightening being an MP at the minute?

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: Well I mean certainly, in light of what happened to my colleague, Jo Cox, a few years ago, I think it’s brought home the reality of the risks that are involved to members of political parties but also other leading public figures. It’s not acceptable to be living under that threat of fear but equally you expect to be held to account as a politician, you expect your constituents to tell you what they feel, you expect to be held to account for your own actions as well but not in a way that makes you feel intimidated or frightened.

SR: Okay, Rebecca Long-Bailey, thank you very much for being on the programme today.

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: Thanks very much.