Matthew Taylor

Boris Johnson - We should increase borrowing for 'great infrastructure projects' Sophy Ridge began the day by interviewing the man who many are expecting to be the UK's next Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. The interview began with how Johnson expected to finance his campaign commitments, which include £4.6 billion for education, 20,000 more police officers, improving transport in the North and extending full fire broadband: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1145244543069184000 SR: Are you prepared to see borrowing go up? BJ: If it's borrowing to finance great infrastructure projects... and there is the opportunity to borrow at low rates to do things for the long-term benefit of the country, then we should do them... Overall, we will keep fiscal responsibility...

Nicola Sturgeon - Boris Johnson will be 'disastrous' for Conservatives This morning Sophy Ridge interviewed the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and the discussion soon turned to the race for who will be the UK's next Prime Minister. True to form, Sturgeon did not hold back when giving her estimation of frontrunner Boris Johnson: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1142715819736145920 NS: I think he will be devastating, disastrous for the Conservatives UK wide, but particularly in Scotland. He's seen in Scotland I think as one of the principle politicians who are responsible for the mess we're in over Brexit.

Jeremy Hunt - EU will be 'willing to renegotiate' Brexit deal The Foreign Secretary joined Andrew Marr this morning, days after coming second in round one of the ongoing Conservative leadership contest. With a good chance of reaching the final round, Hunt asserted that, unlike frontrunner Boris Johnson, he would be able to persuade other European leaders to amend Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement to remove the controversial backstop arrangement for Northern Ireland: AM: Have you got any evidence at all that anybody is prepared to [reopen the negotiations]? JH: When you talk to European leaders, as I do, they want to solve this problem.

The Conservative leadership race continues in full force, with four contenders paying a visit to the TV studios today. Michael Gove has been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons after admitting to taking cocaine 'on several occasions' while he was a journalist for the Times. He expressed his remorse to Andrew Marr: MG: It was a crime, it was a mistake. I deeply regret it... I was fortunate in that I didn't [go to prison]... I've seen the damage that drugs do. I've seen it close up, and I've seen it in the work I do as a politician... The mistake I made is not a mistake I would want anyone else to make.

Sajid Javid - Our priority 'must be law and order' The Tory leadership race is becoming a crowded field, with thirteen candidates now setting out their stalls as they aim for the premiership. Andrew Marr spoke to two of the hopefuls, including Home Secretary Sajid Javid. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Javid wished to talk about boosting resources for the police if he attains the country's highest political office: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1135132342643650562 AM: If you'd had your own way, we'd have more police on the beat now? SJ: Yes... A priority must be crime and law and order... If I was leader and Prime Minister, I would want to see more police on the streets, and I think it's justified.

Dominic Raab -  I'm 'willing to walk away' The starting gun for the Conservative leadership race has been fired and there are currently eight declared hopefuls jockeying for position. Dominic Raab, the former Brexit Secretary, who resigned in protest last year over the government's draft withdrawal agreement, sat down with Andrew Marr to outline his bid for the top job. Unsurprisingly, the issue of where the government now takes the Brexit negotiations featured highly on the agenda: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1132579675358674944 AM: What's going to be really different because you're Prime Minister? DR: First of all... we'd be willing to walk away from the negotiations if we don't get very finite, targeted, reasonable change.

Jeremy Corbyn - Labour supporters voted 'both Leave and Remain' With the European elections taking place next Thursday, several senior political figures took to the TV studios to reiterate their case, including a handful of party leaders. One of these was Jeremy Corbyn, whose Brexit position has been criticised for its lack of clarity. Speaking to Andrew Marr, Corbyn defended his strategy of not picking a side: JC: Labour supporters voted both Leave and Remain, and every other party in this European election is appealing to either one side or the other, defining everybody on 2016. We’re not. We’re defining people as hopefully supporters of us – but also, people who have common problems, however they voted.

Nigel Farage: This BBC is ‘in denial’ Andrew Marr was joined by Nigel Farage, whose Brexit party is in strong contention to win the European elections that are now required to take place on 23rd May. One poll has even put the fledgling party polling higher than the Conservatives for elections to the UK Parliament. With this in mind, Marr chose to pursue Farage on a number of other areas, which led to the interview rapidly becoming extremely heated. Katy Balls has more on ‘the most ridiculous interview ever’: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1127508938105057281 NF: You're just not interested are you?... This is absolutely ludicrous. I’ve never in my life seen a more ridiculous interview than this.

Andrew Marr's chief guest of the day was Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. McDonnell put considerable pressure on the ongoing Brexit negotiations between the government and the opposition. He said this was due to the Prime Minister having allegedly briefed the media on areas of potential compromise such as a 'comprehensive but temporary customs agreement', while Labour had been keeping quiet: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1124986652034605057 AM: In a word... do you trust the Prime Minister? JM: No. Sorry, not after this weekend, when she's blown the confidentiality we had, and I actually think she's jeopardised the negotiations for her own personal protection.   May has acted 'in bad faith' over negotiations McDonnell continued: https://twitter.

Brandon Lewis: I hope our councillors will vote Conservative After fighting off some technical glitches this morning, the new series of the Marr Show featured an interview with the Conservative party chairman Brandon Lewis. With local elections, and potentially, European elections approaching next month, Mishal Husain (filling in for Marr) asked Lewis about the party’s dire standing in the opinion polls. Of particular concern was a poll of Conservative councillors showing that 40 per cent were planning to vote for Nigel Farage’s new Brexit party if the European elections went ahead: MH: When nearly 800 of your councillors were questioned for a survey, 40 per cent of them said they would be voting for the Brexit party... BL: ...

David Lammy - ERG far-right comparisons 'not strong enough' Andrew Marr interviewed David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham who has been at the forefront of calls for a second Brexit referendum. Lammy doubled down on comments he has made about not 'appeasing' the pro-Brexit European Research Group. Marr challenged him on the remarks made to the crowd at the Put It to the People March last month: AM: By implication you're comparing the ERG to the Nazi party... That was an unacceptable comparison wasn't it? DL: I would say that that wasn't strong enough... We must not appease...  I'm not backing off on this...  and the BBC should not allow this extreme hard right fascism to flourish. AM: These are elected Conservative MPs. DL: I don't care how elected they were.

Jacob Rees-Mogg - May should be 'held to account' over Brexit Sophy Ridge began the day with an interview with the head of the European Research Group, Jacob Rees-Mogg. Rees-Mogg was critical of Theresa May's handling of Brexit, and despite backing her Withdrawal Act at the third time of asking, he made clear that he was deeply dissatisfied that she had effectively rejected the possibility of a 'no deal' exit: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1114871437892956160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw JRM: The Prime Minister could have taken us out on the 29th of March, but [she] asked for an extension, [she] changed the date by prerogative power... to the 12th of April... She has made active choices to stop us leaving, and she deserves to be held to account for that.

Emily Thornberry - May is 'out of control' It is now two days since the UK was originally supposed to leave the EU, but with the government's withdrawal agreement being defeated in parliament for a third time, events look more uncertain than ever before. Sophy Ridge was joined by the Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry, who wasted little time in blasting the Prime Minister's approach to Brexit: [embed]https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1112268131295215616[/embed] ET: She's been taking the mickey... Even with just days to go she's still saying 'It's my deal or no deal', and that is not meaningful. That is not democracy. That is Theresa May stamping her feet and saying 'I want this! No one else is allowed to do anything else'. No wonder she's in trouble. She's out of control.

Philip Hammond - Removing May 'will not help' Brexit process The Chancellor has taken to the TV studios once ahead of what was intended to be the UK's final week inside the European Union. He needed up commenting on reports in several of this morning's papers that the Cabinet was preparing to oust Theresa May and install a caretaker leader to see the next phase of Brexit through. Speaking to Sky's Sophy Ridge, Hammond said the troublesome question is what, not who. https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1109744569464311808 SR: Has the Prime Minister run out of road? PH: No, I don't think that's the case at all. This is not about the Prime Minister or any other individual. This is about the future of our country, and changing Prime Minister wouldn't help us.

Philip Hammond: Leaving the EU on 29 March ‘now physically impossible’... This morning, the Chancellor sat down with Andrew Marr following a week in which his Spring Statement was overshadowed by other events, including a series of critical Brexit votes in the Commons, and an appalling terrorist attack on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. With the government suffering another heavy defeat on its withdrawal deal, this time by a margin of 149 votes, Marr expressed the widespread concern that Brexit may never happen: AM: When are we going to leave the EU? PH: If the Prime Minister’s deal is able to muster a majority this week and get through, then we will need a short extension [of Article 50].

Jeremy Hunt - We face risk of 'losing Brexit' Andrew Marr was joined by the Foreign Secretary ahead of a critical week for the government. Although the Brexit deadline day has been enshrined in law as the 29th of March, the difficulties in securing a viable withdrawal agreement have prompted calls for the UK government to seek more time for negotiations. With the Commons soon set to vote on whether the UK should seek to extend the Article 50 process, Hunt told Marr what he felt this could mean for the future of Brexit: [embed]https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1104701313739251715[/embed] JH: This is a very important moment for us.

John McDonnell - We've been forced into backing a second referendum With less than four weeks to go until the UK is due to leave the European Union, Sophy Ridge was joined by the Shadow Chancellor. Labour has recently made headlines with its apparent volte-face on a second referendum. John McDonnell explained his party's new Brexit position: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1102133601657933824 JM: We said we'd respect the referendum, but we also said we wouldn't allow Theresa May to take us out of Europe with a reckless deal, and we would not support 'no deal'... We've recognised actually, if we have to, to block no deal and to block a bad deal, we'll have to go back to the people themselves...

Chuka Umunna – I cannot vote to make Jeremy Corbyn prime minister After a week which has seen 11 MPs leave their parties, Sophy Ridge interviewed Chuka Umunna, once seen as one of Labour's rising stars, about why he had decided to quit: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1099598726639833088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw CU: After really soul-searching on this issue, can I, in all conscience, say that I want to make Jeremy Corbyn Prime Minister? And the team around him, put them in charge of our national security? At the 2017 general election, let's just be honest, nobody thought that was going to be a prospect. At a future general election, it could be a prospect and in all conscience I can't do that...

John McDonnell - We've got to be ruthless on anti-Semitism The Shadow Chancellor sat down with Andrew Marr this morning and they broached the topic of anti-Semitism within the Labour party. Figures were released earlier this week showing that the party had received 673 official complaints since April, with 96 individuals having been suspended for their conduct. Marr asked McDonnell if the party was doing enough: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1097090801773891585 AM: Has Labour got a 'no tolerance' for anti-Semitism policy? JMD: Yes we have... Where it's intolerable, where it's repeated... not only should we kick them out of the party, my view is there should be life bans as well. AM: You're not kicking many people out.

Tony Blair - No deal 'potentially devastating' for Northern Ireland Sophy Ridge began the morning with a wide-ranging interview with Tony Blair. The conservation inevitably turned to Brexit, something to which the former Prime Minister has long been opposed. Blair strongly criticised those politicians calling for a 'no deal' outcome after March 29th, arguing that they had 'played fast and loose' with the Northern Irish peace process from day one: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1094525776861581312 TB: If we have a hard Brexit - no one could responsibly propose this. It would be economically very, very dangerous for Britain, and for the peace process in Ireland, it would potentially be devastating...