Matthew Taylor

Jeremy Corbyn - 'I want a close relationship' with the EU The Labour leader was Andrew Marr's chief guest of the day. Marr began by asking for Corbyn's personal stance on Brexit, something which has proved highly elusive since the referendum result in 2016. Corbyn happily gave the Labour party's position, but once again refused to be drawn on the issue:   [embed]https://youtu.be/blSSOZYAQA0[/embed] AM: Do you want this country to leave the EU or not? JC: We're going to put that choice to the British people, and they will make that decision... I want a close relationship with the EU in the future. 'You don't know' who I'm going to negotiate with If Labour wins the upcoming election, the party plans on re-negotiating a Brexit deal with the EU.

Andrew Marr was joined this morning by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Conservatives have published a document which they claim represents the 'eyewatering' cost of Labour's policies should the party win the general election, with the overall figure estimated at £1.2 trillion. Marr challenged the figures, claiming that Conservatives were relying on 'bogus accounting'. Javid defended the costings, which include the introduction of a four day working week and trialling a guaranteed basic income for all: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1193480733651636224 SJ: Every single costing in this dossier that we've published today has either come from Labour's own figures... [or] independent external sources.

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: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1190911959744598016 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.

Jo Swinson: we want an election on 9 December Opposition parties are overcoming their opposition to an early general election, and are putting forward their own strategies for how to hold one. The Liberal Democrats and the SNP plan to submit a short amendment to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act tomorrow, which would set an election date for 9 December. Lib Dem Leader Jo Swinson told Andrew Marr about the bill and the conditions that would be attached to it: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1188386124135190528   JS: This bill is very straightforward. It would set the date for the next election on 9 December. But crucially, it would be conditional on there being an extension to Article 50, which would mean no deal is taken off the table.

Michael Gove - We are going to leave by October 31st The so-called 'Super Saturday' session of Parliament yesterday did not quite go as the government had hoped. After an amendment tabled by the now independent MP Oliver Letwin was passed, the government delayed a vote on its new withdrawal deal until it could be backed up with legislation. Boris Johnson has now sent a request for the EU to extend negotiations, alongside another letter arguing the opposite course of action. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster joined Sophy Ridge to discuss the government's predicament: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1185841367525838850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw MG: We are going to leave the EU by October 31st. We have the means and the ability to do so...

Sophy Ridge began her show with an interview with Jeremy Corbyn. Brexit negotiations are at a critical juncture with an elusive withdrawal deal seemingly in the government's reach ahead of the EU council summit on the 17th. Corbyn expressed doubts about backing any such deal, citing concerns about the Irish border and urged MPs from other parties not to wave through the deal out of relief that a no deal exit would be avoided: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1183286306287296512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw JC: I think many in parliament - not necessarily Labour MPs but others - might be more inclined to support it even if they don't really agree with the deal.

The Brexit Secretary joined Andrew Marr to discuss the government's latest proposals for negotiation with the EU 27, which are aimed chiefly at finding a replacement for the controversial 'backstop' arrangement for Northern Ireland. The plans outline a new 'regulatory zone' which would have to be regularly agreed to by the Northern Ireland Assembly. Critics have suggested that the proposals are not realistic, but Barclay defended the government's new approach: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1180782963635580928 SB: We have put forward very serious proposals, which I think people across the EU recognise address many of their concerns... We've brought forward proposals on a regulatory zone, but with the crucial addition of consent in order to address the concerns that came up before.

Boris Johnson - Death threats against MPs are not 'humbug' With the Conservatives gathering in Manchester for their party conference, the Prime Minister was Andrew Marr's big guest of the day. After an eventful few weeks, Marr was not short of topics to discuss. He began with the furore created during the recall of Parliament, when Johnson appeared to dismiss complaints about safety by the Labour MP Paula Sherriff as 'humbug'. Johnson responded that he took MPs' security concerns seriously, and that his remarks were taken out of context: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1178226290874126336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw BJ: I want to make a very important distinction between... threats and abuse directed at MPs, which is totally unacceptable...

Andrew Marr's main guest of the day was Jeremy Corbyn, who he joined in Brighton as the Labour party conference is underway. Battling the cries of protestors throughout the interview, Marr's first line of questioning concerned an attempt by Labour's National Executive Committee to abolish the post of Deputy Leader, which would have removed power from the incumbent Tom Watson: [embed]https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1175689173635723266[/embed] JC: I knew there were discussions going on about the role... I didn’t know a motion was going to be put... There was a move that didn't happen, didn't work, and I intervened to make sure we have an open democratic discussion about the structures of our party.

Steve Barclay - Boris Johnson 'believes in Brexit' David Cameron's memoirs are due to be released this Thursday, with some of the more explosive highlights already seeing serialisation. The Sunday Times has published an extract today that argues that Boris Johnson did not believe in Brexit, and only backed the Leave campaign to win over the Conservative rank and file. The Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay joined Sophy Ridge and immediately refuted the former Prime Minister's claims: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1173139451788320768 SR: Does Boris Johnson really believe in Brexit? SB: He does! He led the campaign... and the Remain side was expected to win, so the more prudent thing, if someone was looking purely at their career, would have been to back Remain. Boris Johnson...

Amber Rudd - There is not enough effort to get a Brexit deal The major talking point of the day has been the resignation of Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, who made her announcement on Saturday evening. Rudd is not just relinquishing her cabinet post but also the Conservative whip, and plans to stand as an independent at the next election. Rudd's departure comes in the aftermath of the Prime Minister expelling 21 rebel MPs from the Conservative party after a critical vote last week. Andrew Marr spoke to Rudd about her decision: [embed]https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1170605664575451136[/embed] AM: What was the crucial thing that made you leave?

Keir Starmer - Next week is our last chance to stop no deal The Andrew Marr Show returned this week after a summer break, just before Parliament is due to sit again on Tuesday. However, with the Prime Minister set to prorogue Parliament ahead of a new session, there are only 16 sitting days left before the UK is set to leave the EU on 31st October. The Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer told Marr that MPs who opposed a no deal Brexit had to be ready to seize their moment: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1168078858093916160 KS: The Prime Minister is going to close Parliament down on Monday week... The first time that we could come back to this is probably 21st-22nd of October, which is the week before we would crash out, so this is almost certainly the last chance.

Sophy Ridge returned this morning after a few weeks holiday. Representing the government was the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps. Shapps was upbeat about the UK's prospects should it encounter a no deal Brexit, and proudly told Ridge that his department was fully equipped to tackle any challenges: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1165555588123844609 SR: Will you be ready? GS: We will be ready. In fact, I would say we're more prepared than most people realise. Heathrow's third runway could be blocked Shapps told Ridge that the controversial planned third runway at Heathrow could still be halted by legal cases.

Gina Miller: ‘We’ve called the government’s bluff’ Stephen Dixon filled in for Sophy Ridge this week, and began by interviewing Gina Miller. Miller and her legal team are due to bring a court case in early September to determine key questions about the government’s delivery of a no deal Brexit. This morning, Miller claimed a victory for her side as the government has said that they will no longer try to suspend Parliament in order to reach a no deal Brexit without a vote: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1163000178896510978 GM: ...Unequivocally they accept that to close down Parliament, to bypass them in terms of Brexit... is illegal. So without having to go to court, they’ve conceded. We have basically called their bluff. ...

Michael Heseltine - The UK's agenda 'is on hold' Ed Conway took over the reins from Sophy Ridge this week, and began by interviewing Lord Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister and committed europhile. Heseltine has co-authored an article with former speaker Betty Boothroyd in today's Sunday Times, calling a no-deal exit 'the most grotesque act of national self harm committed in peacetime by a British government'. Heseltine expanded on this column: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1160463646096547840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw MH: The union of the United Kingdom itself is at risk, as polls are now showing in Scotland. The economy has stalled, inflation is rising, and the pound is in serious difficulties and threatens to get worse.

Niall Paterson stood in for Sophy Ridge this morning, interviewing the Conservative party chairman James Cleverly. Paterson asked Cleverly whether billions of pounds worth of spending pledges outlined by new PM Boris Johnson meant that the government was considering an early general election. Cleverly insisted that the government would not be pursuing this course of action, despite a vanishingly small majority in the House of Commons: https://youtu.be/SVXgUrRmYE4 NP: Tell me there isn't going to me a general election this year. JC: ...We are not going to initiate a general election. We have elections all the time... What we've got is a new Prime Minister who, during the leadership campaign, made a number of explicit commitments...

Jeremy Corbyn – I'm not worried about Boris Johnson Sophy Ridge travelled to Mansfield earlier in the week for an interview with the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. At the 2017 election, Labour lost Mansfield to the Conservatives after having held the seat for 94 years. Ridge asked Corbyn about how prepared the party was to win the Leave-voting Mansfield back, especially with a new Prime Minister taking the reins: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1155390569067294720 SR: Are you a bit worried about going up against Boris Johnson in an election? JC: Not in the slightest. We'll go out there and we'll make our case... I don't do personal, as far as I'm concerned the issues are too serious...

In his final show before the summer break, Andrew Marr sat down with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. With the results of the Conservative leadership contest to be announced on Tuesday, Philip Hammond told Marr that if Boris Johnson emerged victorious, he believed his only course of action was to follow in the footsteps of fellow cabinet minister David Gauke: AM: Do you think you're going to be sacked? PH: No, I'm sure I'm not going to be sacked because I am going to resign before we get to that point... I understand that [Johnson's] conditions... would include accepting a no deal on 31st October. That is not something I could ever sign up to... I therefore intend to resign to Theresa May before she goes to the Palace to tender her own resignation on Wednesday.

Gina Miller - Suspending Parliament 'abuse of the PM's powers' Gina Miller, the lawyer who famously took the government to court over the question of whether it or Parliament had the right to trigger Article 50, has announced that she will be doing the same again if the new Prime Minister tries to prorogue Parliament in order to achieve a no deal Brexit. She told Sky's Niall Paterson of the grounds for her case: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1150315764416688128 GM: We think it's beyond the Prime Minister's powers, because parliamentary sovereignty is actually the jewel in the constitutional crown. And we feel, from the advice and the case law we've looked at, that... it would be an abuse of his powers... to limit the voice of the representatives that we all elect.

John McDonnell - Labour splits are 'myths and rubbish' Stories of deep division within the Labour party have appeared in this morning's papers, with the Sunday Times reporting calls for two of Jeremy Corbyn's closest advisers - Seumas Milne and Karie Murphy - to be sacked. Andrew Marr spoke to the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell - rumoured to be one of the dissenters - about the allegations: https://youtu.be/2zi9_6slRLw JM: I've not said to sack anybody... In terms of the Sunday Times story about any splits between me and Jeremy, it's myth, it's rubbish. Jeremy and I go back 40 years, we're the closest of friends... AM: And you have full confidence in Seumas Milne and  Karie Murphy? JM: Of course I do.