YouSaid · the spoken record

Chris Philp

lines on the record: 52
first: 2025-01-31
most recent: 2025-01-31
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I always avoiding that. I'd rather let someone else do the picking. When it comes to the football pitch, but I am ultra competitive. And I hear that Keir Starmer is as well. I would love to play football against him. Completely confident I would see him off.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And end up with a broken ankle or something. I think it's self preservation rather than because I'm the most skillful player.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's impatience. I'm going to go on with the game. And why walk all the way around when you can just climb over the top? And like a challenge, right? It's quite difficult climbing up this massive fence, so I quite like doing that as well. Have you ever fallen off? No, I haven't fallen off. Not yet. I mean, it may happen. And I am competitive. In fact, quite often when we pick the teams at the beginning, quite often I get picked the two captains. I'll quite often get picked first. And I think that's because they don't want me trying to tackle them because they're worried.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, this is in Croydon. Yeah, we play on a pitch, which has this very high fence around it. And I do, when the ball goes over, I do climb over the fence. And it's higher than that. It must be more like 20 feet. It's quite a high fence.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I do a bit. There are 9 million working age adults who are not working, and as we compete globally with countries like, you know, South Korea, China, India, we need a work ethic. We need everybody to be making a contribution. We are in, as George Osborne said years ago, we are in a global race. And that means we've got to be competitive. And it means we've got to work hard. And I think as a country, we need to lift our game. We need to up our game.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Sainsbury's in South London, and I found that working hard brought its own reward and I've just kept doing that ever since, whether in business and now in politics. And I'm glad that I kind of picked up that habit at quite a bit. That to my own kids, and I think it's something I'd like to try and infuse more into our national culture as well”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's right. I mean, look, when you sell up and run, so I've always enjoyed running my own business and selling businesses up, and I've set up a fair few over the years, some of which have been very successful. That one wasn't. And I think the first thing you learn from failure is to get up and keep going, right? You don't let it knock you down. Don't let it put you off. Get up and keep going. And if you look at the most successful people who run businesses, very often over the years, over the last couple hundred years, very often they've had failures. The most successful people have had failures, like Thomas Edison had failures, and yet they didn't, but they weren't discouraged by that. They got up and kept going. So one of the things that I think has stood me in good stead through my life is a habit I picked up when I was probably an early teenager growing up in South London. And that was being willing to always work hard. So I'd, for example, used to deliver the local newspaper. I used to wash people's cars. I used to do the garden for neighbours. My first proper job was...”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think we definitely need to have the sense of can do and to be optimistic about the future and positive we can fix these problems with a plan in some cases it'll be a tough plan a robust plan and to say we will we will fix this we can fix this we've got a plan to fix it it's gonna work and we've developed it properly so i think in that sense having you know been willing to take tough action being willing to be honest and do what's necessary and that is something we will definitely be embracing as well it's not unique to donald trump of course lots of effective leaders have done that as well margaret thatcher i think would be a good example of that too”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think we turn it around by being honest about the mistakes that were made previously and on immigration Cami and I have done that already. We said the mistakes are made and we've been clear what those mistakes were. I think it's by... Holding the government to account in a way that is fair and robust, as I've been doing in the Home Affairs area. I've been very active, as you've probably seen in the last few weeks in particular. And then developing credible ideas that will fix the problems our country faces.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And angry, that Labour scrapped that Rwanda scheme before it even started, they should at least have given it a try, but they couldn't even be bothered to do that.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, by all means, but it's naive to suppose that will fix the problem. It won't. I mean, the National Crime Agency themselves said a year or so ago that you need a deterrent to stop the boats. It's not the kind of thing you can stop purely by law enforcement. There's a phrase policing used. You can't arrest your way out of this. Because if you dismantle one criminal gang, another will pop up in its place. It's like a sort of multi-headed monster that just keeps on coming because there is so much money to be made. So, sure, look, I'm sure we'll support strengthening the laws in this area, but it won't stop the boats coming across the channel illegally to do that either requires the French to stop them all on the French beach and in French waters, which they're currently not doing, or for people as soon as their feet touch the soil in the UK to be removed somewhere else, because the deterrent effect of that means that very rapidly, probably within a few weeks, people will simply stop bothering to make the crossing attempt in the first place. And that's why I'm so annoyed.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I wouldn't say that. We believe in free speech and everyone's entitled to their opinion, and they're entitled to express it.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I don't think that's an accurate characterization. It's not something that I wouldn't put it that way myself, and I don't agree with it.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, I don't think that's going to happen in this country. But I do want to make sure that our people that live here feel first and foremost British. I think that's really important to have that shared sense of identity.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I wouldn't base it on nationality, but I would base it very strongly on levels of skill, so having high degrees, English language, accomplishments and employment prospects. I think it's completely reasonable to say we only want to welcome people here if they've got very high levels of skill and they will genuinely contribute rather than coming either to not work at all, and many recent immigrants don't work, or if they come here to work, only work on minimum wage jobs, which actually is a net drain on the taxpayer. I think that can't carry on.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'm concerned about the fact there's a million people in this country who can't speak English properly, that there are some migrant communities whose participation in the workforce is very, very low. And that is really concerning. We've seen, as you said, with the rape gangs, they were of a predominantly Pakistani heritage and this absurd sense of cultural sensitivity or political correctness or whatever you want to call it prevented the authorities deliberately from dealing with this when they should have done 15 or 20 years ago. That is all very concerning. I think for a country to succeed, for a country to be successful, you need to have a shared sense of identity. Otherwise, the nation state doesn't function and society doesn't function either. And we need to do a lot better on that integration point. And if we can't do better, and at the moment we can't, then we need to have much, much, much lower levels of immigration.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, yeah, it definitely did, because I could see how the numbers weren't being properly controlled. I found that very frustrating. I thought the changes made latterly should have been made much sooner, and I certainly conveyed that. And I could see how the system was abused by people here illegally, people who commit criminal offences, who should be rightfully returned to their country of origin, and I could see endless legal challenges based on human rights, modern slavery, asylum claims and so on, preventing dangerous foreign criminals from being removed from the country. The system is being abused by a sort of industrialized complex of lawyers, human rights lawyers, who are essentially exploiting the excess, in my view, excessive generosity of our system. Don't be angry.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But I'm certainly not going to get involved in that one. But I think what we now understand is that mass low skill immigration is actually bad for the economy. It reduces productivity. It reduces average wages. And in fact, it's actually a net burden on the taxpayer.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, that is probably a question ultimately better addressed to the then Prime Minister. I would imagine the thinking at the time was to do with economic growth.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Thank you for that. Thank you for that important clarification, Nick. That will avoid me getting into trouble. So, look, and some steps were taken about a year ago under the last government to start to increase all these salary thresholds and tighten it up. And we're now seeing the effect of that begin to feed through.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, the point, the way it sounds like a formula, otherwise. No, I'll be specific. The points-based system that was introduced in the immediate aftermath of Brexit was far too lax. The salary thresholds were too low. The social care visa scheme that was supposed to see 6,000 people come, I think, ended up being two or three hundred thousand. The family visa, the dependent visa rules were far too slack. All of that was a mistake.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, of course, the projections cover a 10-year period, only two of which were under the Conservatives, the other eight of which are forward-looking. And, yeah, look, mistakes were made. The way that them were.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I don't think we certainly wouldn't, had we been elected, we certainly wouldn't have done what they've done. No question about that. But they put up taxes enormously despite having lied to the public previously, put up borrowing, and increased regulation on things like employment and things like the private landlord sector. And clearly, what's happened over the last three or four months is businesses have been telling Rachel Reeves this is completely catastrophic, and she's now desperately scratching around for ideas to get growth going, but things like...”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think helping speed up infrastructure projects, I think, is something we will support. I support personally. I'm sure the Conservative opposition will support as well. But we should remember why we're in this position in the first place. Racial reason, Kirst Arma delivered a budget just a few months ago, which was catastrophic for growth. They put through, what was it, forty billion pounds worth of tax rises, none of which were flagged before the election. They basically lied during the election campaign. In fact, when we pointed out they were going to put tax up, they called us liars. It turns out it was them that was lying. And they increased borrowing by a third.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think the tax reductions in general, including that one, needed to be accompanied by some spending restraint in order to help balance the books and to maintain market confidence. And I made that case internally, but it wasn't, unfortunately, listened to. But I do think the direction of travel, which is to try and lower the tax burden and lower the regulatory burden to get growth going, I mean, I do think that is the right thing to do. Implementing the growth plan and navigating all the problems. Obviously, ultimately, there was not a way of doing that. I think had my suggestions been listened to a bit earlier, then there's a much higher chance that it would have worked. And it'll be always a matter of regret that those points weren't taken on board and listened to.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Clearly, it wasn't. Clearly, commenting on the currency movement was a dumb idea, and I shouldn't have done that, clearly. And I learned a lesson in the course of the episode you've just recited.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, if you have a read of Tim Shipman's book, maybe you've read it already, I don't know, or Anthony Selden's book about that period, you'll see that in government at the time I was making the case that tax cuts, which in principle I support and still do, need to be accompanied by spending control or spending reductions, at least spending control, possibly spending reductions, in order to show that the books are being balanced and to avoid the market reaction that we saw. Unfortunately, that was not an approach that the then powers that be wanted to take. And we all saw the consequences. But you'll see from those books.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think you have to get across the point you want to make, and there are, in my view, always good arguments, good reasons why whatever it is I'm suggesting has merit, and I want to get those across. And inevitably, I find interviewers, particularly in short interviews, are often being quite aggressive, and you have to, I find, stand your ground because otherwise your point just gets lost or eviscerated.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“There is a happy ending They're now fine, they're absolutely fine. I mean, it took two or three years for some of the issues to resolve, so our daughter was fed to a nasal gastric tube for about a year. She had a hole in her heart that had to close up. So it took a year or two, but they're absolutely fine now, which is amazing. But I think it was a somewhat traumatic experience, and I didn't really realize that until about seven years later at the beginning of COVID. And I remember walking into the home office at the beginning of COVID during the pandemic when the office was almost entirely deserted. And they'd installed these hand sanitizer things on the door of the home office. And the security guards had looking to please sanitize your hands, which I did. And when you're in the neonatal unit, you have to sanitize your hands like every sort of 15 minutes. And when I sanitize my hands during COVID, the smell of the hand sanitizer reminded me of the neonatal unit and it suddenly sort of brought back this sort of flood of memories that I hadn't even been conscious were there. And it was just that smell that just sort of...”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's right. So within about a week, they were on life support machines for about three months, but within about a week, the doctors said we should take them out of the incubator, obviously with medical help, and they were sort of covered in wires and tubes and everything. And they got us to just take off our tops and hold the babies against our chest. And apparently that skin-to-skin contact, which we did like repeatedly. And that skin to skin contact apparently reassures the little babies, even though they ordinarily be in the womb and it means they end up having better outcomes. So that was the one thing we could do. So it was actually quite nice to think we could make that sort of do that to help them.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You're not in control of it, and you're completely relying on other people to help, right? So in many aspects of my life today, I've taken responsibility for doing my looking after myself, right? So setting up a business, running a business, working hard to get into Oxford, having been to a state school, all of that stuff was, you know, I took responsibility, worked hard, did it myself. Here, there's nothing you can do when your children are born that prematurely, you have to just trust the doctors, and there's nothing you can do apart from being present. There's nothing really you can do. And they say there are things you can do like skin-to-skin contact, which we did. But there's nothing sort of medical you can do.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was they were they were born they were twins, they were they are twins, were born unexpectedly very, very prematurely at twenty five weeks in one day. So that's only just past the legal limit for abortion. And it was a surprise. There was no indication that that was going to happen. In fact, arguably there was a scan about a week before that should have perhaps picked up that it was a risk, but it didn't. And I remember the doctor as it was clear that birth was imminent, the doctor saying at this level of prematurity, there's only a 50-50 chance of survival. And even if they survive, or if one of them survives, then there's a very significant chance of severe disability. So that was a kind of moment of sort of shock, I suppose, because obviously, you know, my first children, my only children, I thought that was going to be, this was going to be a sort of, you know, a wonderful new chapter of life. But then this happened.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It is, it is. Yeah, he got a, I think it was a hospital I was born in, actually. He got a hospital-acquired infection, must have been sort of in the mid-2000s. And that was part of the motivation because it struck me that the state, the government, wasn't doing its job properly by looking after, I mean, looking after our citizens, our fellow citizens in hospital is one of the most fundamental things the government should do. But I've always felt a bit, for some reason, a bit kind of reticent to reference those kind of personal experiences. I'm not quite sure why, but I suppose when I go into a studio to talk to someone or give a speech, I feel I should talk about the ideas, the policies, what's going on rather than that more personal stuff. Maybe I should take your feedback and be willing to open up a little more.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That is true. And I like going into the detail as well and really understanding it. But you've also got to be, so that is a strength in many ways, but it can be a weakness if an overattention to detail prevents you from seeing the bigger picture. So I think it can be a strength, but you've got to just keep it sort of in check as well.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So I think to an extent, yes. I mean, it's very rare, firstly, to have what I would call a proper science degree. And I think that does mean you try and think about things analytically and try and break them down and try and solve problems. Now, that can also be, it can be a weakness because there's a danger you get sort of sucked into detail. So when I was a minister, I think if you talk to any of the civil servants I work with, they'd probably say I was really into the detail of bits of legislation or how the police budget worked or when I was technology minister how are we going to think about regulating AI, how are we going to persuade more companies, tech companies to list in London. And I was always in the detail of those questions.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think things like it's on the environment. I think while I think the dash to net zero by 2030 for generation is like insane, the environment, I think actually is really important. So one of my little idiosyncratic hobby horses is I think it's really important we plant more trees, particularly in urban areas. I'm concerned about air pollution in London as well, for instance. But fairness, I do believe in fairness, but fairness means giving people an equal opportunity. It means getting the state off their back. It also means personal responsibility. Fairness isn't just about handouts, in fact. It's about equal opportunity. And it's also about being fair to people who work hard and do the right thing by not overtaxing them and not over-regulating them. So when I say fairness, that is what I meant then and it's what I mean now.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I thought this was the end of the major era, and I thought they'd been in power a long time, they'd become tired, I thought there was infighting, there was sleeves, they were divided, I thought Tony Blair, I thought they'd run out of ideas, and I hope none of those ministers are listening to this this afternoon. And I thought Tony Blair looked like he was fresh, that he was combined, an appreciation of the free market, but was going to harness that to improve public services as well. I kind of bought his narrative. I bought the Alastair Campbell line. It's interesting.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So I was at Oxford. It was in my third year, I think, 1997. And I actually voted, this is embarrassed to voted LibDM, but I did that for a man called Evan Harris, who was then the Lib Dem MP for Oxford Western Abingdon. It was actually a tactical vote against the Conservatives. I was effectively wanting Tony Baird to become Prime Minister and voted tactically in that particular constituency. But by 2001, four years later, I had changed my mind and it's remained changed ever since.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, I don't think so. I don't think so. My dad's very kind of individual and he will always had his own views. He ran as an independent in various elections in Kent in the 1980s, I think. But he always viewed... Politics through the prism of archaeology and who was going to look after him protect and South London's archaeological heritage. That was always his sort of main focus. So I'm not quite sure. I like debating. I liked arguing. I was always in this sort of debating thing at school, just liked ideas and liked thinking about what can we do to try and solve X problem or Y problem. So I thought about politics as a way or political debate, as a way to think about how to solve problems”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, so I'm still interested in it. And I love working. I like the history of Westminster and walking through Westminster Hall, right? 700 years old. And I always feel, and it's been a hall on that site for more like a thousand years. So I really like that kind of sense of history and the fact that Parliament's been sitting in Westminster for hundreds and hundreds of years. So I find that, I do find that interesting, but I also felt that when I chose my own sort of path, I wanted to do my own thing rather than following in someone else's footsteps. Yes.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So obviously, yeah, it was a graveyard. So there were loads of skeletons. In fact, I remember actually excavating, this has only just come back to my mind. I remember excavating with my mum this skeleton of a woman who'd obviously died in childbirth and the child's skeleton was sort of in the birth position. And you sort of think then about the human story that lies behind these sort of archaeological finds. And yeah, he excavates Roman villas, Iron Age sites. He excavated medieval palaces. I mean, all kinds of different things. So it's a kind of interesting chartered.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. I remember one half term, for example, on the Isle of Sheppy in Kent, excavating in the grounds of the, I'm not sure if it's a Minster or a church in the graveyard, excavating a medieval cemetery with my mum. And I used to get to dig things up the whole time. It was fascinating. And when I said,”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He founded the first professional archaeological rescue unit in the country. I think it must have been in about the nineteen early nineteen seventies, but he'd been digging things up since he was about eighteen. And it was besides being a passion, he was, as you say, his job, he did it six, sometimes seven days a week, and we would spend holidays, school holidays, you know, on archaeological excavations, often living in a caravan on the sort of side of the dig.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think I would have started taking an interest in these issues at that age, but I never, I mean, as you will probably talk about, I didn't come into politics kind of full time until quite a lot later in life. But I was always really interested in politics. But my dad had his own passion, still has his own passion, which is archaeology. So he would always talk a lot about whatever it was he was excavating at that time.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We talked about politics a bit on a Saturday lunchtime. We always listened to the repeat of any questions. So I think every Saturday lunchtime for, I don't know, for like 10 years, I would always listen to any questions. This would have been, I suppose, from the sort of mid-1980s through to the mid-1990s. And I always found it very interesting. And we always used to talk about those kind of things over the table.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think it is part of it because there are voters up and down the country who obviously have voted conservative their entire lives who are disappointed by some things and you've touched on some of those and that's why as a Kemi and I were honest and said mistakes were made by the previous government. But what we need to do is to try and show by coming up with some specific ideas which we plan to in the near future that we can be trusted to get these issues under control because they are important and you know I care about them Kemi does as well.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, it was 10 years ago, bless him. He did. That's right. He ran against Joe Johnson in Orpington, which was also the first time I got elected in Croydon South.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We have said we made mistakes. I mean, Kemmy and I gave a speech in late November on the topic of immigration, and she said, and I said as well, that mistakes were made. I mean, the legal migration figures were far too high. Now, we took some measures late in our time in government which are now getting those down, but they were too high and they are too high. And that was the mistake. And we've honestly sort of said that. And as far as the boats are concerned, the numbers were actually coming down before the last election. They went down by about a third. But, you know, it shouldn't have happened in the first place.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I'm angry about that as well because I think the small boat crossings, which have been happening for three or four years now, are shocking. It's a complete lack of border control. Now, the last government did have a plan that I think would have worked, the Rwanda deterrent, and Labour went and cancelled it within about two or three weeks without even letting it start. Now, they should at least have given it a try.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I believe Yes, I am because I think jobs are being lost, and I think businesses are laying people off. You see businesses. In the hospitality sector, the retail sector, saying they're having to fire people, and it's avoidable. It doesn't have to happen.”
2025-01-31 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Chris Philp One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source