YouSaid · the spoken record

Hilary Benn

lines on the record: 50
first: 2018-12-14
most recent: 2018-12-14
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 was obviously making a very, very good and important point at that moment when the lens snapped. It is quite a picture.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Significant enough. Oh, I suspect it probably will. I will say I was given a good going over by Nick Robinson. I'm only joking”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He said to keep it all. He had a wire recorder. A wire recorder. A wire recorder, and these two little capstans would go up and down and a wire ran between them. And from time to time, we would say, go on, Dad, play us that recording of you trying to commentate at Wimbledon. And because we just made us laugh, and he'd say, all right, and he put it on. And all I remember about it is the match was between a Mr. Oakley and a Mr. Spakala. And Dad was not a terribly good commentator. And it made you realize what a genius Max Robertson was because he managed to turn. Exchanges, short rallies into a picture that you could listen to.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I started a diary when I was about seven or eight and I am still doing it. I joke, it's a little known medical disease chronoclitis archivitis for which there is no known cure and I appear to have inherited it in some way and well, who knows in the future, but for now I'm getting on with the job. But you will also find it like”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“There will still be a moment. It does still stand. Now, we don't yet know whether it'll automatically come back because we're resuming the debate on days four and five or whether the debate is going to start again. But I think it's absolutely essential that we rule out no deal straight away.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Could revoke Article 50, and then you could resubmit the letter later. So there are two ways of ensuring that we don't go over the cliff with all of the chaos, which government ministers admit would be created, and that is absolutely not in the interests of the country, and that is the first thing we've got to sort out, because if the Prime Minister's deal is defeated and no deal is not acceptable, then it forces the government and parliament to think what next.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, that is why we need to rule out no deal now, and I had an amendment down to the government's motion that would do that Set it in the house this week. It's a fraud to suggest that we are going to leave with no deal because Parliament won't sanction it. Do I think any government, any responsible government would say, okay, we're going over the edge of a cliff? No. So why carry on pretending? And secondly, there are at least two options for preventing it now beyond that. One is seeking an extension to Article 50. And even if the EU didn't agree, but I think they would,”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't think the government would dare say we're just not bringing the deal back and we're going beyond the 21st. We still have a draft political agreement but in an attempt to deny Parliament a say and a voice because if they tried to do that they would be uproar, it would be an outrage and they wouldn't get away with it.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, for this reason, my problem is not actually the withdrawal agreement. We owe the money, we have to look after the citizens. We need a transition period. And if you're going to create a problem by saying you're leaving the single market and the customs union, of course you're going to have to have a backstop so that a hard border doesn't return because it's not just about trade. It is about the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process. And it is outrageous that anyone should suggest, potentially putting that at risk. No, my problem is with the political declaration and the steadfast refusal of the government to make choices. For two and a half years the story has been don't worry we can have all the things we like and we can get rid of all the things we don't like and all that nonsense has now been cruelly exposed as not true. And when you're faced with a set of circumstances and there are choices to be made, the job of government is to lead and make those choices rather than run away from them or push them off into the distance. And I'm not voting for it because you look in the distance, where are we going?”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I can't see her standing up and saying I've now decided EA and a customs union is a really great idea'cause it trashes all of her red lines which were a terrible mistake they created the backstop problem. This is the irony. She is impaled on the stick of her own problem that she created. But if she said, well, I think the public do want this, let's ask her.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I know, but then she's could not have been clear about a lot of parts. There won't be an election. We're definitely having the vote, and then you find it changes. And the reason I say that is because...”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think all of the options have real and genuine difficulties, and I think we have an obligation to try and find a way forward. If the deal goes down, I think Parliament then has to decide, are there any options where there might be a majority? It may be that the Prime Minister decides, well, I'm taking my deal to the country.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think we need to go and ask the people. Well, I've said I am not one who has been calling for a people's vote, just to be absolutely clear about that because...”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think if the Prime Minister's deal goes down when it returns, there are broadly two options. One is the debate about EEA and a customs union, which is something that I've argued for, because I do believe we have a responsibility to try and give effect to the result of the last referendum, not least because if there was another vote and a decision went the other way, I said to some campaigners yesterday, you presumably would expect the government today to then try and implement that referendum. So it does cut both ways. But I sense that the tide on EA in a customs union is beginning to shift because many people on our side, to go to the heart of your question, who would have undoubtedly backed that year and a half ago now say”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, the interesting thing about Brexit at Nick is it's led to lots of conversations with people you wouldn't have had a conversation about politics with before because Brexit politics cuts across party politics. And the two things now lie side by side. That's the great change that has taken place, first of all. Secondly,”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, that is, frankly, what the EU Barnier said to us when we have met him. But Jeremy has also said, I'm willing to work with you, and I do think that one of the lessons for the Prime Minister, not only does her own party think she doesn't listen and reach out to them, She hasn't reached out to anybody else, and when the country is so riven by this question, then the government has responsibility to take the lead in trying to reach consensus, and then I agree with you, the opposition has a responsibility then to respond. But we haven't seen that, have we?”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think being in a customs union, there definitely is a chance of doing that. I think when it comes to full access to the single market, it's a fair question what exactly does that mean? What obligations would you take on?”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, it is a spectacular conservative car crash. That is certainly true. I can never remember a government that has been so riven by division and seen that openly expressed. Look, we've got a clear policy for what we want, and Jeremy in Venice teams.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I know my limitations to be perfectly honest about it, and I didn't make the speech on Syria because I wanted to do the job, and I didn't do what I did in the summer of 2016 because I was trying to. No, I did both of those things because at the time I thought it was the right thing to do.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Because it's not a job that I wanted to do. I said I didn't want to do it. Is it a person thing, no, in the end? Well, I didn't say”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, yes, you can debate that, but it didn't work. And we have our electoral system, which really doesn't make that possible. I don't think we'll see that change, but I think the important lesson for the Labour Party is we have always been a broad church. It is our greatest strength, which is why we argue sometimes so much amongst ourselves. And the Labour Party has to remain abroad, church, because if it becomes a narrow church, then I think it's going to undermine our ability to win power. So there has to be a place for everybody seeing a party that represents a range of views is a strength and is not a weakness.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, I don't think so, and I'm not joining another party. I wasn't quite born into the Labour Party. I joined when I was 17 years of age, and I will die in the Labour Party, but not just yet.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In their homes and their communities are feeling, and that's why there is a thirst for change. I think there's no question about that”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think you've absolutely put your finger on it. It is, and it's true of Brexit and the reasons why people voted for Brexit, some of which were to do with sovereignty that we've discussed and Europe and the other reasons, austerity, inequality, stagnant wages, long waits to see the doctor. Your children never being able to afford to buy a house in some parts of the country where they were born and brought up. All of those things come together. Now, the terrible thing about Brexit is it will make it more difficult for any government, and I hope it's a Labour government to do something about that. And I think people look at Britain, they look last year at wages that didn't go up, and the wages of the CEO, as I recall, are the top 100 companies went up by 10 or 11%. Now, you meet business people who will say, this is not right, this is not sustainable, and if business leaders are echoing that, then you can bet that that's what people...”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The 2015 election on, and I am absolutely 100% supportive of taking the railways back into public ownership. Indeed, it's a fantastically popular policy.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I know there's always people who will say whatever the polls you should be twenty points ahead of where you are. I think what was remarkable about the 2017 election, as you will be aware, lots of colleagues left Parliament when it broke up, when Parliament was dissolved, saying, well, I'm afraid I won't be coming back. It's been nice knowing you because the Tories were at 12, 15 points ahead. And the transformation during the course of the campaign, which was a complete disaster for the Prime Minister. And I think what that showed, Nick, is it is true that you win, if you can win the centre ground. I just think the centre ground of British politics has shifted. And that is something that Jeremy represents. And so take a practical example. I'd argued previously we ought to take the railways back into public ownership. That was not something that we thought.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Now we were Almost wrong on that because of the result of the 2017 election, which was a huge achievement for Jeremy. And look, make no mistake. I want to see a Labour government. I want to see another Labour government. And the next election I will be campaigning as hard as I've done in every election since for my sins I first delivered a leaflet in the 1966 general election. If you're interested in the history.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“A Sunday paper. Well, I don't know. Genuinely I'll look you in the eye and you can look me back. I didn't talk to a Sunday newspaper because that's not. My style, it's not my approach, as you probably know.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Quit. Didn't. Well, just again, for accuracy, I didn't tell us Sunday newspaper. I told Jeremy on the phone because I thought that was the right thing.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Look, politics is sometimes a very difficult business. Whatever I've done, I have done, because I thought it was the right thing to do in those circumstances. Now, since then, to complete the part to do with Jeremy, he was re-elected in the autumn. I said two things when he won. One, congratulations to time for unity, and that has been what I've done ever since. But it cannot be easy to be the Prime Minister facing that and even to win, what, 200 to 117? You know 117 of your colleagues don't support you. It's a tough business, but it, I suppose, comes with the job. It's just very, very public.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, that is true, and we have been confronted by that choice historically. Look at the period of pacifism in the 1930s, George Lansbury, I think accused at one point of hawking his conscience around party conference. And the Labour Party has always wrestled with this because we want a world that is full of peace. But from time to time, you have to decide what you're going to do when evil holds sway. And I didn't make that speech because it wanted to be in opposition with Jeremy. I made that speech because it's what I thought. It's what I believed was the right thing to do in the circumstances that we faced, which was to help other people who were in real trouble.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But of course, of course. But look, I respect the fact that Jeremy takes a different view because Jeremy is being consistent with views he's held for a very long time. And that in politics matters a great deal. And one can disagree. One can take a different view without disrespecting the fact that someone has a different view to the one that you hold.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I wouldn't describe it as that. It was a particular moment, and to his great credit. Jeremy, who had decided that there would not be a Labour Party position in that vote.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“What that ideology did, and I think it was the right thing to do. Now it divided opinion enormously, and I got a load of abuse and criticism.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, it was an unusual situation. It was a speech that Came from the heart and from the head, and to be absolutely honest, Nick, what I shall Daesh had done and were doing to people sickened me and appalled me, and in life when you're faced with a choice, do you say I'm really sorry that's happening to you, but it's really not my problem. Good luck, and walk away, or do you say we have a moral obligation to do our bit to help? Whatever that bit is, militarily the decision was quite small, politically the consequences were very big. And the proof, the truth, is I saw Daesh who were at one point at the gates of Baghdad over a period of two years were pushed back militarily. We have not defeated the ideology. But now you read the tales of what life was like under them. You see the uncovering of the mass graves.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Socialist and trade unionists and others joined the International Brigade in the 1930s to fight against Franco. It's why this entire House stood up against Hitler and Mussolini. It is why our party has always stood up against the denial of human rights and for justice. And my view, Mr. Speaker, is that we must now confront this evil. It is now time for us to do our bit in Syria. And that is why I ask my colleagues to vote for this motion tonight.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We never have and we never should walk by on the other side of the road. And we are here faced by fascists. Not just their calculated brutality, but their belief that they are superior to every single one of us in this chamber tonight and all of the people that we represent, they hold us in contempt. They hold our values in contempt. They hold our belief in tolerance and decency in contempt. They hold our democracy, the means by which we will make our decision tonight in contempt. What we know about fascists is that they need to be defeated. And it is why, as we have heard tonight,”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, he had very, very strong views, but look, towards his children mamma also, nothing but encouragement. He used to joke that if I walked into the chamber, tripped up, banged my head on the dispatch books, dropped my papers, he would have said to me, Well, H, I think you certainly made an impression on the house today. So he was always encouraging.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I agree and he's been doing a hell of a lot of revolving in his grave. There was a whole load of that around the time of the Syria debate, and there's been a fair bit of it since. Very occasionally I will respond and say what on earth makes you think it is even remotely acceptable to use the memory of my dead father to try and attack me politically.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And so a parade of people coming. I remember Robin Day sitting in a chair and breaking it. That was a particular family occasion. I remember my first memory of the House of Commons is sitting in the gallery and pointing to a man sitting on the government front bench below the gangway. And his legs, I noticed his legs didn't quite touch the ground. And I said to Dad, who's that dad? He said, that is Winston Churchill. And I remember meeting Clement Attlee. I looked it up this morning to make sure I got my dates right in nineteen sixty six at the Royal Albert Hall where we had a big labour rally and a frail old man and dad said this is Clem Atley who was the Labour Prime Minister at the end of the Second World War. So yeah, those are childhood memories and that makes it an unusual childhood in that respect.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I, along with my two brothers and my sister, grew up in a household where we would eat and talk about what was going on in the world. Now, when you're little, you assume that all families are like your own because it's the only one you know. Mum and dad used to give drinks parties, and my sister Melissa christened them with wonderful, observant eyes. She called it Siggy Stan Talk because people would come, stand, talk, and smoke cigarettes. And my job usually, along with my elder brother,”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, if we were to leave, heaven forbid on WTO terms, we're a member of the World Trade Organization, you know what? It has rules that we have to follow, which we have no control over. So it's a bit of an irony, really. And the question is, what do you do with your sovereignty? And if you're going to give it away in really big and significant ways by pooling it with others, then you should ask the people, which is why we should have had a referendum before we joined the common market in 1973, but didn't, and why If the proposal was we ought to leave, of course you should ask the people.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, now this is a really interesting question because it goes to the heart of the current debate. And I often say in meetings to people who say my sovereignty is the most important thing. Okay, I will give you complete sovereignty. The rest of us will leave the room. We'll lock the door and you stay in here and you are sovereign and you can do whatever you like. No one can tell you what to do. Does that get you? And the question is, what do you choose to do with your sovereignty? And in many, many different ways in the modern world, we have chosen to pool our sovereignty in the interests of a greater good.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I could remember most of them. Where did you get your power from? On whose behalf do you exercise it? How can we get rid of you and another two?”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Those experiences have informed my view, but I think the referendum was about balance. This is a vote about the balance between cooperation at the international level, which is absolutely unquestionably required if we're going to deal with the problems facing the world. And on the other hand, the desire for control, sovereignty, self-determination that we see everywhere. And many people voted in the way they did in the referendum because they wanted a bit more control. And I think the message for Europe, because this is not only in the United Kingdom, we see these forces right across the EU is we need to redress the balance a bit.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Where there was a, I mean, a famous occasion just before the end of my time as the Environment Secretary. When we're a member of CITES, which is the Convention on Endangered Species, and the EU had a policy as to how we should all vote together, the duty of sincere cooperation, as it's called. And I said to my officials, we're going to vote for the EU position. If it goes down, we're going to cast our own vote in our own way to protect, I think it was tuna. And this caused palpitations in Whitehall, with the system saying you can't possibly do that. But in the end, I said, yes, we are going to do that. And after I left office, I have been told, the Commission wrote and said, well, we're thinking of taking action against the British government for having cast its vote in this way. A lot of apologies were given. In the end, the Commission said, well, all right, but don't you dare do it again. Now, I think it's outrageous. Absolutely outrageous that an official could decide to bring consequences upon a government because an elected politician has decided to cast a vote in a particular way.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“part of your transition. I think, yes, it was. Now I campaigned for Remain in the referendum not because it's perfect. It isn't. It's desperately in need of reform. And I, from my own ministerial experience, you know, on a number of occasions, have bristled at the power of commissioners who, when I last checked are not elected to tell elected politicians what to do.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We were both on the same side in the 1975 referendum, and as you will remember, Nick, two-thirds basically of the Labour Party and the trade union movement were opposed to our continuing membership of the common market as then was. And Harold Wilson eventually adopted Dad's proposal for a referendum. I think Jim Callahan famously once described it as a little rubber lifeboat into which one day we may all have to climb. And indeed we did. And I think the Labour Party, the Labour Movement changed its view over time. Jacques Delors' appearance at the 1988 TUC Congress basically saying, brothers and sisters, I lay before you a vision of a social Europe. And the trade union movement realized, blindly, we can get things out of Europe on workers' rights. We can't get out of Mrs. Thatcher.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, that's one way of looking at it and the other way of looking at it is that the Prime Minister knew she was going to lose, and that is an expression of the power of Parliament. So she thought, well, I might as well not bang my head against that brick wall. Let's go away and see what I can do, whether it's going to be sufficient to reassure the critics of the backstop on her side remains to be seen. But eventually that vote is going to come back and Parliament will make its decision. And there's no escaping that in the long term. The problem here is we are desperately running out of time.”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“On the biggest issue facing the country, well, that was all very interesting now. Off your toddler, because we're going to go back and do what we planned anyway, because if they do that, what is this democracy we have in the House of Commons if the voice of Parliament, the elected representatives, is not going to be listened to by the government of the day?”
2018-12-14 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Hilary Benn One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source