YouSaid · the spoken record

Alex Chalk

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69
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2024-06-23
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2024-06-23
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  1. “As I say, this is not evasive. I just think that we're in the position where he's literally trying to destroy the bike. He hates the Conservatives and he's not a conservative. So I think it's really difficult.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “different by the European Union. Merkel and I. I do think so because if I remember saying at the time, if they had said, look, of course there must be an emergency break if to take, for example, the Farage argument, oh yeah, well, look, you could have 100,000 people arrive tomorrow, there must have been a way of saying if, in the unlikely event that was to happen, the UK must, in the exercise of its own sovereign discretion, say we are putting a pause. We are going to put a pause for whatever.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “No, because on any view, and I was saying this at the time, there was a real concern about a democratic deficit. Wherever you sat, and of course you took a principled position that we should stay in, I took that same view thereafter, our paths diverged about what the proper response was. But on any sensible view, there had been a movement in terms of our constitutional relationship and there was no mandate for the new situation as had emerged. And in places like Cheltenham, so we remain full of very thoughtful, intelligent ex-GCHQ people, internationalists folks. UKIP did extremely well in the 20, I think, 2014 European elections. There was a democratic deficit and we couldn't ignore it. And I think Cameron was in an extremely difficult position. I don't criticize him at all. And by the way, I also think that he could have been given a bit more bluntly. And I think if he had, the result would have been...”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “I will engage with it, but by the way, I've got a better argument and a better solution, and I'm going to expose the frailties of that position. And to do so by force of argument. Sweet reason, I think, can always successfully counter populism.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “I think it's extremely difficult to define. And the one thing I would say is I think we have to be, you know, I think you and I see a lot of politics in a similar way, but we must never retreat into a comfort zone of say, well, of course, you know, this is all populist and therefore disregard it and somehow to poo-poo it or suggest that it somehow unintellectual is a great mistake. The fact is it is cutting through. And I think we have to be alive to it. But there are those like me, I hope, who believe that you can address these things, you can address these things within the four corners of the rule of law. And by the way, the rule of law is your friend in doing these things, in ensuring that those who break the law, i.e. perhaps arrive illegally, should not be put in a materially better position than those who play by the rules. That is actually consistent with the rule of law and consistent with our international legal obligations. So it's supposed to sitting back there and say, oh, well, this is all terribly populist and therefore I'm not going to dirty my hands with it. No, no, no.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “The first thing to say is, of course, he is standing against the conservatives. I mean, he's literally doing his best. He's using lurid language to say he wants to destroy all this kind of thing. So I don't think at the moment there's any credible suggestion of that. Look, he's a phenomenal communicator. And by the way, it would be a huge mistake to say, right, everything this guy says is absolutely hopeful. He is making some reasonable points, which is that sovereign nations should be able to control their own borders. That is an uncontroversial thing to say. And I happen to think he's right. The British people, we have warm hearts, but we want to have a secure front door. So that is a reasonable position to take. But I do think there is going to need to be some scrutiny about some of the other things he's talking about. Some of the stuff he's saying on the economics, it would mean sort of 70 billion pounds additional in spending, which no sensible budget could properly deliver. So look, you talk about leadership things down the track, but at the moment he's in full-on wrecking mode, and I think that means that we're not.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “Way of deciding major issues because of course they become the proxy for people's grievances on any other thing about what you think about the leader, what you think about views on social care or whatever. So they're a very, very bad way of doing things. And I just don't think there's an appetite to be pitched into a referendum.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “I don't think it's baffling at all. I think it's because the Labour Party take the view that there's nothing in it. And also, look, I think we've made a decision. And my feeling was, by the way, at the time of 2016, and I went back to go and read some of the articles that I'd written at the time. And I said at the time, look, I don't think we should do this, not because I think in 20 years time it'll be absolutely clear that it would be mad to leave, but just because I think in the short term, short to medium term, there will be so much pain and aggravation and anguish that comes from this that I don't think it would be worth the candle. And by the way, I'm not sure the union will survive. And I'm a unionist before I'm anything, right? So I was right about the first one. I was probably wrong about the second one. But on any view, that decision has been made. I don't think there's any credible argument or credible appetite to relitigate further references. Well, look, I think one thing we have learned as a nation is that referenda are literally just about the worst.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “And one who will remain nameless, I'm going to say. No, no, no, no. I'm not. But you said, you know what? I never forget it. He said to me, I'll just, that's it. I couldn't be bothered. I went home. I said, wow, you couldn't be bothered. This is literally one of the most important issues for our country. But anyway, look, it was a very vexed time. The thing that just going down a very, very brief little detail, the thing that frustrated me was the timing of those votes was so long after the decision had been made that frankly people had boxed themselves into their positions or to use another metal. They'd gone so far up their barricades that they refused to come down and meet in the middle. And so those of us who were sitting there saying, well, hang on, I think there's a mandate for lead, but not to sort of head for the exit door in some vast rupture. We were in a tiny minority. And so there were people like me speaking to the likes of Stephen Kinnock, you know, and we were this dwindling band of five or six people saying, shouldn't we have some sort of compromise option here?”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “Yes, so we voted Remain in Cheltenham. I voted Remain. And Rory, I think I've heard you speak about this, and I'm in violent agreement with you, no doubt why I supported you for the leadership and all that. But, you know, the thing was, I felt that the 5248 was clearly a mandate to leave. You have to take that on the chin, but it was not a mandate for this extraordinary rupture, which is why I voted for the customs unit. It seemed to be that was a sensible move, which fell short by three votes, as I recall. Now, my personal view is those indicative votes”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Just to be clear, I mean, I do remember being quite apprehensive because there was a huge amount of, as you remember, anger, there was white hot anger at the time and the nation became very divided and people were going up their barricades.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “I think you've spoken very powerfully about that. I absolutely understand it. And I think it depends on individual MPs. You've got to make your own judgment about how to balance these things. Because, of course, it's a balance. But my experience was, if you are clear to your constituents, then actually if you treat people as adults, they will respond as adults. So what I've always made a point of doing is I get into my office, 7.30 in the morning, and I do constituency work. So from 7.30 to 9 o'clock, I will get through as many of my own emails. And in the evening, from 9.30 till 10.30 or whatever, I will get through constituency emails as well. But I will also be clear that I won't be able to respond to everyone. So for example, if there's a massive issue that comes in, I will write the mail chimp, which says as I can't respond to everyone, the no discourtesy intended, but these are my own personal thoughts. And I'll make sure that every single one got red, but I won't necessarily do it. So if you're open and honest and transparent, then I think you can strike a balance.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “And so all of these issues flare up on social media, but there is a long tail of issues that you then need to deal with amongst your constituents to try to answer these proper concerns.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “Politics has been incredibly volatile, and dare I say, even emotional for a long time because you, I remember you come into Cheltenham where there was a whole business about Brexit and the second vote stuff, which you were heavily involved in. And I think throughout the entire period, you've talked about 2015 when I came in. Of course, we were pitched into the Brexit stuff, which was intensely emotional. And then, of course, we had the period of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. And then, so all of these things have created a very volatile environment. And I think that's part of the reason why you're seeing a high attrition rate, or certainly in recent elections. They're burning through politicians at a faster rate than before because it is so intense. So you have to remember, every time one of these things flares up, that means hundreds and hundreds of emails in your inbox. And I have always want, I know you're a conscientious MP, you want to respond to as many as you can yourself. And if you feel that obligation, it is immensely...”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “I mean, that was a similar situation because when I wrote in my letter in 5th of July, wherever it was, I said, you talk about elastic, which stretches, and then there comes a point when you go past its elastic limit and it snaps. I think that is politics. But all I'm saying is that if you weave into that as well, not just that sometimes you have to cleave to things that wouldn't have been your first choice, but also when you weave in the emotional aspect of friendship as well. It's just another part of the cocktail.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “Yeah, but I think you've got to be clear-eyed when you go into politics. My background was as a lawyer, as a barrister, I was enjoying that, and I wasn't one of those people that felt my life won't be complete if I go into politics. But I made a decision that I wanted to do it, and I wanted put myself amongst the great problems in my community and try and play my poor part in improving them. But I felt that I saw coming down the track these potential conflicts. And I thought I would never want to find myself in a situation where I was aiming off from what I thought the right thing to do was because I felt that I owed some particular loyalty to an individual.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “When I came into politics, I said to myself, make no friends for that very reason, because I wanted to ensure that my mind was clear about what I had to do if I thought that was the appropriate thing to do. But you can't help it. You can't help making friendships. And I think life is probably richer for it, but it does create challenges from time to time.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “It's true because so many things are coming into tension, and I feel about politics as constantly, I'm not the first person to use this expression, but conflict of loyalty, you're loyal, of course, to your friends, but you're loyal to your principles, you have your constituents, of course, which are at the forefront of your concerns. And I think there are a few other areas where those loyalties are intention and principle always has to trump friendship, but that can be very painful.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “Real friends. I'd say I've got about four or five, so people that I will stay in contact with when I leave politics and some of those are people who just, because of geographical proximity, so I happen to get on really well with the MP for Gloucester because he was very kind to me when I was coming into politics, the neighboring constituency. And then other people I've got to know and admire in politics as well. So I think probably about four.”

    2024-06-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 81. Alex Chalk, Lord Chancellor: How to fix Britain’s prisons · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source