Boris Johnson – I’m ‘sorry’ we did not meet our Halloween deadline

Sophy Ridge began her show with a pre-recorded interview with Boris Johnson. With the intended Brexit date of 31st October now receding into history, Ridge challenged the Prime Minister over his repeated promises to meet that deadline, and asked if he would apologise for failing to deliver on his commitment:

Boris Johnson says it is a matter of deep regret that the UK did not leave the EU on 31 October #Ridge pic.twitter.com/OiWDb6BAQ8

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 3, 2019

SR: Are you sorry?
BJ: Yes, absolutely!
SR: Will you apologise to all those Conservative members who voted for you…?
BJ: Of course… It is a matter of deep regret, but what we need to do now is get on and do it… Only this government offers a deal that is ready to go, and a way of delivering it.

An early election is ‘essential’ to leave the EU

Ridge put it to the Prime Minister that it was perfectly possible that the current parliament would have passed his Withdrawal Agreement Bill and thus delivered Brexit by the new deadline of January 31st. Johnson countered that he did not want to go for an early election, but he felt it was the only way to avoid further extensions into 2020 and maybe even beyond:

Does Boris Johnson want an election where he can pitch Parliament against the people more than he wants to get Brexit done? #Ridge pic.twitter.com/POk9am7txD

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 3, 2019

BJ: I don’t want an election at all… What [Parliament] was going to do was keep embarrassing the government with infinite delay… That was why it was so essential to go for an election… It was the only way out of the EU, and out of the trap that Parliament has constructed.

‘I see no reason’ to extend the transition period

Ridge asked if it was conceivable that the government could extend the transition period between 31st January and the deadline for fully leaving the EU, which is currently penciled in for December 2020. In this time, the government is supposed to negotiate the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU. Johnson said that he did not foresee this happening:

“I see no reason whatever why we should extend the transition period”, says Prime Minister Boris Johnson to @SophyRidgeSky

The UK has until December 2020 to negotiate a new trade deal with the EU.

Follow along here: https://t.co/nKxHADnxJE#Ridge pic.twitter.com/ugwCpnaek7

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 3, 2019

BJ: We start our negotiations in a state of perfect alignment [with the EU], so the negotiations in principle should be extremely simple. I see no reason whatever why we should extend the transition period.

Trump ‘patently in error’ about US–UK trade deal

Earlier this week, Donald Trump appeared as a phone-in guest on Nigel Farage’s LBC show, where he told Farage that he was concerned about the US being able to strike a new free trade deal with the UK if the Prime Minister’s deal is passed. Johnson tried to soothe the President’s concerns:

Boris Johnson says Donald Trump was “patently in error” when he said that a US trade deal was impossible under the PM’s Brexit deal.

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— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 3, 2019

BJ: In that respect [Trump] is patently in error! …It is a great deal… It allows us to have full and unfettered control of our tariff schedules in Geneva, and to do it as one United Kingdom. And I stress, that deal is ready to go.

Voting for the Brexit party will make Corbyn PM

On the subject of Farage, Johnson also told Ridge why he was refusing to make an electoral alliance with the Brexit party in the upcoming general election:

Boris Johnson insists that voting for the Brexit Party makes a Labour government more likely.

Follow #Ridge live here: https://t.co/K4ToiVYIHk pic.twitter.com/NJ8lVXB9iZ

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 3, 2019

BJ: I rule out a pact with everybody, because I don’t think it’s sensible to do that… The only likely consequence of voting for [other parties] is that… you’re making it more likely that you will thereby get Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party… [and] nothing but dither and delay.

Nigel Farage – Johnson’s deal is ‘a Remainer’s Brexit’

Andrew Marr interviewed Farage as his first guest. Farage did not have kind words for the Prime Minister’s withdrawal agreement, deriding it as another ‘EU treaty’:

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage calls Boris Johnson’s deal a “Remainer’s #Brexit”#Marr https://t.co/vSOXHyeUyD pic.twitter.com/usgcqVPZeY

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 3, 2019

AM: If you’d been offered a deal like this 5 years ago, you’ have been jumping with joy…
NF: I’d have said ‘Sling your hook’! It’s pointless, it doesn’t get us out of anything…. We should not sell out to this, it is a Remainer’s Brexit. It’s virtually worse than staying where we are, and if we go through this route, we will finish up rejoining.

I will not stand at this election

Farage also confirmed that he would not be a candidate this December, after much speculation that he might:

Election 2019: Nigel Farage tells #Marr he will not stand as an MP#Brexit https://t.co/vSOXHyeUyD pic.twitter.com/KpPC7nkTOp

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 3, 2019

NF: I’ve thought very hard about this – how do I serve the cause of Brexit best?… Do I fight a seat, try and get myself into Parliament, or do I serve the cause better, traversing the length and breadth of the UK, supporting 600 candidates? And I’ve decided that the latter course is the right one.

John McDonnell – We’re ‘doing everything we can’ to fight anti-Semitism

The Shadow Chancellor also joined Marr, who asked him about Labour’s record on anti-Semitism. The party, which is currently under investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on this issue was recently met with a barrage of headlines from Jewish newspapers, urging British Jews not to vote for the Labour party. McDonnell said that Labour was trying to combat the problem:

John McDonnell on anti-Semitism: “I’m so saddened by this… we’re doing everything we can”

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor responds to criticism from Jewish newspapers#Marr https://t.co/0TICf0f3be pic.twitter.com/EcopXpNpYj

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 3, 2019

JM: I’m so saddened by this. I just want to reassure them… We’re doing everything we can to educate our own members, we’re doing educational courses… All the things they’ve asked us to do, we’re doing.

Labour will cancel Heathrow expansion without changes

McDonnell also suggested that an incoming Labour government wanted to see significantly stricter changes to the current plans for expanding Heathrow airport (which is in McDonnell’s constituency):

#Marr: Will Labour cancel Heathrow expansion?

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell: “It does not qualify on the basis of the criteria we’ve set out”https://t.co/AwOHXTazPL pic.twitter.com/PyTMqAJIKn

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 3, 2019

JM: We’ve set ourselves criteria – [on] the environmental impact… the economic impact and social impact. On the current criteria, we’ve said very clearly, Heathrow expansion does not qualify.

Nicola Sturgeon – A good election result means indyref2

Scotland’s First Minister told Sophy Ridge that the issue of a second Scottish independence referendum (or ‘indyref2’) would very much be before the Scottish people at this general election. Sturgeon’s current aim is to hold a second referendum before the end of 2020, and is hoping that a strong result for the SNP will boost her case:

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon says it would be unsustainable for Westminster leaders to oppose holding a Scottish independence referendum if the SNP succeed in the general election.

Follow #Ridge here: https://t.co/K4ToiVYIHk pic.twitter.com/0vcv0pmyGe

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 3, 2019

NS: If the SNP win [this] election, then for any Westminster politician to seek to stand in the way of an independence referendum on that timescale would be seeking to ignore the democratically expressed wishes of the Scottish people. That is not a sustainable position.

No confirmatory referendum for Scotland

Sturgeon stated that there was no reason why a Scotland which voted to leave the UK would require a confirmatory referendum before being able to depart, including on the terms of a deal. This is somewhat at odds to her position on Brexit. Sturgeon explained her reasoning:

Nicola Sturgeon says if Scotland voted for independence in a second referendum, there would not need to be a confirmatory referendum on the terms of the departure deal.

The First Minister added that Brexit and Scottish independence should not be equated https://t.co/K4ToiVYIHk pic.twitter.com/0XzF9HYtUl

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 3, 2019

NS: I don’t believe we should equate the two things… The problem with Brexit is that nobody was straight in advance of the referendum about what it meant… It wasn’t the kind of informed decision that the 2014 independence referendum was… Let’s not assume that the mess Brexit has become is an inevitable part of the democratic process.

Jo Swinson – Excluding me from debates is sexism, fear, or both

The leader of the Liberal Democrats has made clear her protests at the plans drawn up by ITV to hold a TV debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn on 19th November. Ridge pointed to her party’s standing in the Commons, but Swinson suggested that there were darker forces at play:

“Either it’s sexist, or they’re scared, or maybe it’s a bit of both” – @joswinson questions why she will not be taking part in debates in this general election, when former Lib Dem leader @nick_clegg did in 2010.

Follow #Ridge here: https://t.co/K4ToiVYIHk pic.twitter.com/zoGYV2fDWD

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 3, 2019

SR: Labour and the Conservatives have a combined total of 542 MPs. The Lib Dems have 20…
JS: If you look at the comparison to 2010, the Liberal Democrats still had far fewer MPs than the other parties, but Nick Clegg was still OK to be in those debates. Quite frankly, either it’s sexist, or they’re scared, or maybe it’s a bit of both.

Lib Dem leaflets are not misleading

Ridge also challenged Swinson on some of the election literature that her party has been distributing ahead of the campaign. She singled out a particular offender in North East Somerset, the seat of Jacob Rees-Mogg, where the Lib Dems finished a distant third in 2017:

.@SophyRidgeSky challenges Lib Dem leader @joswinson on some of the party’s campaign literature which some have accused of being misleading.

Follow the day’s political news live here: https://t.co/CF1pdcTrBh pic.twitter.com/qGKw8QG0BT

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 3, 2019

SR: This is entirely misleading, isn’t it?
JS: Politics has changed significantly since the 2017 election… The last national elections that we had in this country, the Liberal Democrats beat both the Conservative party and the Labour party… Something very different is happening in politics now.

Rebecca Long Bailey – Brexit decision will be taken ‘at the time’

And finally, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary left open the possibility that the Labour leadership could campaign to leave the EU if it wins the election, renegotiates the UK’s withdrawal deal and holds its proposed referendum:

Could Labour campaign to leave the European Union if it held a second referendum?

“That will be a decision that will be taken at the time by our party”, says Shadow Business Secretary @RLong_Bailey to @SophyRidgeSky

Follow along here: https://t.co/nKxHADnxJE#Ridge pic.twitter.com/KHmVdfiHT7

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 3, 2019

SR: You could campaign to leave the EU in that referendum?
RLB: That will be a decision that will be taken at the time by our party… [We’ll be] having a special conference to determine the final position. But ultimately underpinning our final decision will be how good that deal is… We want to give [people] the full choice.

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