YouSaid · the spoken record

Nia Griffith

lines on the record: 34
first: 2018-07-25
most recent: 2018-07-25
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

“It may very well be the case that they will depose Theresa May in the same way as they depose Margaret Thatcher when they are ready to do so. The question then of course will be what credibility that person has, and we shall of course be saying that they should go to the country and they should make it an issue of a general election whether anybody wants that individual or not.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think there's a real survival instinct amongst Tory MPs, and they're always willing to shelf principle for survival. And so the idea that they're going to actually have a no-fidence vote in the Prime Minister anytime soon is a bit of a fantasy. What they might do, of course, is change their leader, though I think they're all a bit nervous of doing so before all the dirty work is done, if you like, to put it that way. None of them really want to get their hands dirty on the Brexit issue. They know it effectively means that they are likely to lose the support of half of their members. So they're not going to do it, are they?”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“My constituents say, look, we don't want to be in that ever closer union because that's what they were really rejecting. But, yes, we did see there were benefits of a common market. So let's get that nearest thing we can now, the nearest possible... And a proper customs union that's effective and makes us work together with the EU countries.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't think you can ignore a pole which goes 6040 in one direction and I represent my constituents and quite frankly if people want to say nasty things about me or make cartoons about me or put up posters about me having been a comprehensive school teacher I think I've heard every comment there ever could be I've heard probably every nickname every insult there ever might have been so it really makes no difference whatsoever on a personal level and I think that it's a great difference really between when you are in it for the policies and you're in it for trying to get things right for your constituents as opposed to some independent character who's in it for their own personal glory so my point is this yes I accept very much the benefits of staying in the EU but I accept also that fundamental feeling and whether it's because we're in Ireland whether it's because of our history whether it's because of the tabloids whether it's because of immigration that”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think Well, I think they were clearly not from my constituency, and they were forgetting that in fact in my constituency sixty percent of people voted for Brexit. Now we can unpick as many of your colleagues already have done all the reasons why that might have been. But the fact of the matter is that it was very hard on the doorstep. It was extremely difficult to get those people. And these were people who said, look, Nia, we've supported you through thick and thin, you know, we always vote Labour, we support you personally, but we are not voting to stay in the European Union.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You could feed it on the doorstep every time you mentioned, well, if there were a referendum, what might you do or attitudes to Europe? And people were telling me then. So I...”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I did, I did, I spent a very long time my life teaching languages and clearly trying to promote a really positive attitude towards our European neighbours and I think constantly we have been faced in this country with a barrage of headlines from certain tabloid newspapers which have created a very negative image of Europe. We were also the only country which had a major political party which was anti-Europe. It's been very difficult for many, many years and I think we probably all failed and you can blame the result on me if you like to make the case strongly enough about the benefits of being in the EU even in areas where we've had significant tranches of funding even amongst say Welsh valleys where they've had a lot of money or farming communities where again they've benefited hugely from the agricultural policy. So what do we do now? I mean back literally in the January of 2016”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“If it's done properly, they should not be any worse often. That's been very much our premise from day one. We want to see a Brexit that works for jobs and for industry.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Look, that's going to be a matter for the NEC exactly how they want to word it, but certainly I want to make it as equally strong, as equally effective. I want it to be a really good definition. I think on the why though, we've had a massive influx of members and everybody now has social media accounts. So whereas before you might just deal with somebody if they went out for an interview on one of your programs, for example, now there is a massive amount of material out there. People are flicking comments to each other with, shall we say, scant regard sometimes for where those comments might end up. And, you know, we have people then who come into the party have a history of certain types of comments, and then we have to think about processes to deal with that. And that's a huge challenge for any party.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Not exactly sure why we haven't been able to sort it out. I mean, I very much hope now that our ruling body, the NEC, by saying that we need to make sure that we get the script right, we get the definitions right, we get the examples right, and they've said we need to have another look at how we define antisemitism. Let's hope that this time we can really get it right. I think we have an enormous...”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“As I say, I just can't see a situation where we're going to be disciplining people for speaking their mind to each other, whether it's members of the shadow cabinet, whether it's the leader of the opposition himself. I mean, we as a party encourage democratic discussion. In fact, we probably do far more of our discussing in public than some other parties. We probably spend endless time on some of your programs having roused with each other and so forth, because effectively, you know, people come into the Labour Party because they believe in things. It's very much about creating change and wanting change to happen and wanting things to be different. You don't come in as some sort of ride to glory.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I have absolutely no idea, but at the moment I'm not aware of any processes by which because somebody speaks to somebody else in an inverted commas a particular way, we've had disciplinary procedures normally if we're talking about policy, if we're talking about issues, we can have those discussions.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The idea that Jeremy would want to set up an atmosphere in a party where people couldn't go and say things to him is completely absurd. It's just not his way of dealing with things and I think we'd Have somebody speak to your face and speak behind your back. It's important that we do have those discussions. And if we need to do a lot more work to get something right, well, let's do it.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Look, Margaret quite clearly has had some appalling times herself in terms of prejudice against her and a massive challenge with the BNP to deal with. So if she wants to have a very clear word with Jeremy, well, that's entirely up to her.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The great thing about Jeremy is that you can have a full and frank conversation with him and you can talk about things which may be difficult, may be awkward. But at the end of the day, it's very often a question of clarifying or emphasis. And whereas, as I say, Jeremy will go perhaps with a more discursive, maybe I will go for the more point it out very, very bluntly. That's a matter of style as well.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think, as I say, it's always been up to the individual Prime Minister what they would choose to do and what they would actually put in that letter.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, as I say, I think you underestimate, Jeremy, if you don't recognize that he recognizes that the world isn't as perfect as he would like it to be, and that we want to take steps to make it a better world. But at the end of the day, that will be very much his choice as to what he actually says.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But I don't think you know Jeremy. I mean, Jeremy is a profound thinker. He is one of those people who will give enormous consideration to these types of issues. And we'll be up to him at the end of the day what he decides to do.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think you have to look very carefully at the manifesto that we all signed up to, including Jeremy last year, and he was quite clear about that on the media as well. And as I say, it will be Jeremy's choice at the end of the day, who he wants to put in what position.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It would be absolutely up to him, whatever choice he chooses to make that's every Prime Minister's prerogat Look, Jeremy will do what he will do.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I do very much think that we have this opportunity, we have the opportunity to be a very strong voice, and I think we should keep that opportunity. We've taken the decision back in 2007 to renew Trident. We have that opportunity, and I think we should now be trying to make sure that we use our voice in the world to talk about the multilateral disarmament, but we also tackle a number of other very frightening issues like the idea of tactical nuclear weapons, which quite frankly we absolutely need to put to bed once and for all.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's Yeah, I think the important thing is to be thinking very clearly about what you actually ultimately want in the world, what you ultimately want to talk about multilateral nuclear disarmament. Now, if you're going to do that, you have to be at a strong position at the negotiating table to do so.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think it's also part of what we really have to do in terms of making a clear stance on our defence posture. I mean, what we want to do at the end of the day is not engage in conflict, but in order not to engage in conflict, one of the important ways of doing that is making sure that people understand that you have the powers to deal with them and that ultimately you do have a very strong deterrent.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I can't say that I could absolutely identify a moment, but what I would say is perhaps I've become a lot more aware of the role of deterrence, and I think I've become a very much more aware of the situation with the United States now, and I certainly think that if we, as the UK, want to keep our place at the top table in the UN, and then we can use that place effectively, then clearly we need to have our own nuclear deterrent.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think the point was that right from the first day the Monday of the statement in the House of Commons, Jeremy said very clearly that we supported the government on the issue of sanctions against Russia. Now, you don't support taking action unless you accept the premise that clearly Russia was involved. So by supporting the actions, I think we spoke very clearly on that. Yes, Jeremy will always express things in a In a more reasoned way and sometimes that sort of longer dialogue, sometimes that more perhaps more thoughtful way of speaking doesn't come over as the way that perhaps some people in the media would like it to be a lot more direct.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think, first of all, we've had more confirmation from the police force, but I think even just going right back to the situation in March and the analysis you would make of why anybody would choose to make a victim of that particular individual who quite clearly defected from Russia, all the signs were very, very clear, I think.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think it's always right to have dialogue and we must try to encourage dialogue and I think we were quite relieved when the whole affair with North Korea and Kim Jong-yung turned out to be less aggressive and more friendly than perhaps we'd originally anticipated. However, I do think that we have to get real, we have to accept the fact that whilst avoiding direct conflict there have been these very, very clearly identifiable as Russian instances of trying to upset and disturb NATO partners. We know whether through cyber attacks in Estonia, whether through interference in elections, whether through the terrible incident we had in Salisbury earlier this year.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But I think it's about what you do within the institutions that you're in. So whether you're in NATO or whether you're in the UN, it's actually what you do with a position when you're there. And I think where Jeremy and I very clearly differ from the Tories is that we do feel the UK needs to be a strong voice. We need to speak up whether there are human rights abuses. We need to have roadmaps forward for situations like Myanmar now, where quite clearly the Tory government has failed. We've had a I hope the new Foreign Secretary will do better, but we have had a foreign secretary who quite frankly has been insulting to people around the world and has lost us a great deal of kudos.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think it's a continuum, I think, that what you do on the diplomatic field, of course that comes first, and of course we want to de-escalate tensions, and of course that's where the starting point must always be. But at the end of the day, we have to face the fact that there are some very difficult situations in the world, and whether that is particular terrorist groups or whether it is even aggressive states. We have to be prepared ultimately to defend this country and make sure we do it well. And if you want to peace build and keep peace, you actually very often have to make sure that you can tackle any insurgents who are going to try and wreck the hospital you're trying to build, who are going to try and invade the refugee camp, who don't respect any of the Red Cross norms or whatever.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, indeed, indeed, but I do think that does show the measure of the man in the sense that he is very inclusive, and I think he was really trying to build a broader cabinet in very difficult circumstances where quite clearly the party had been very much torn apart that summer. And it's to his credit that he's managed to rebuild and pull us together again.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's a very good question, isn't it? I think you look back to my background, clearly my parents coming from Welsh mining communities were so proud of the fact they'd had education, but also very grateful, never took anything for granted. So I think they always said to us, you know, you've got to make your own way in the world. Nobody's going to be there to pick up the pieces when we're gone. And I think that gave you that sense that you really have to do things. And I suppose I've always wanted to say what I want to say to people because it matters more to me that I try and convince them or I'm true to my ideas than that I climb up any greasy pole. That's not the consideration. So sometimes I will offend. Sometimes that'll put me back to the bottom of the pile. But that's fair enough.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“French and Spanish and Italian because I studied French and Italian at university and Spanish is very, very easy to pick up as a result and then I've done a reasonable amount of German.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh I could say Jenkuya, which means thank you it's a good start I think whenever you're abroad if you can say Jenkuya thank you it does actually create a little bit of an atmosphere smile perhaps from someone as you say you want”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, indeed I am, it's a real challenge, I have to say even for a linguistic myself I'm really having to look at every word and pronounce every letter. So it's giving me a bit more sympathy to people who perhaps don't find it so easy.”
2018-07-25 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Nia Griffith One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source