CONTENTS

politics first | Exclusive Interview
Q. How would you describe UK politics at this period in
time?
A. This is the most turbulent time in UK politics in living memory.
The Westminster village did not see Brexit coming, and now
politicians and journalists, alike, are struggling to get their
heads round the consequences. But the origins of the current
instability can arguably be traced back a decade or more. MPs,
on all sides, have argued that Tony Blair’s fateful decision
to take the country to war in Iraq sparked a disillusionment
with mainstream politics and a mistrust of elites which have
overturned the existing order. That cynicism about Westminster
was further fuelled by the expenses scandal. The result is that
politics has become deeply unpredictable. For journalists
interested in politics, these are fascinating times. In 2010, we
witnessed the first coalition since 1945; last year, we saw the
election of a Labour leader written off by the majority of his
own party; and now the biggest story of all: Brexit. Anyone
with a crystal ball would be well advised to shatter it now,
because if the last few weeks are anything to go by, the future
is impossible to predict. A week used to be a long time in
politics; now 24 hours seems like an eternity as political
careers are made and broken, and erstwhile leadership
contenders languish on the backbenches. From hero to zero,
from zero to hero.
Q. Regarding the European Union referendum, how would
you rate the overall quality of the debate and did the
public understand what they were voting on?
A. Whenever I left the office to speak to people on the referendum
campaign trail, I was struck by how many people, particularly
women, said they needed more information. That I found
surprising as I felt the Leave and Remain campaigns were
bombarding us all with “facts” and figures. The problem was
that voters did not trust what they were hearing from either
camp. And although broadcasters like Channel 4 News did
our own FactCheck series, which has been viewed by over
10 million people, we also had a legal duty to report both
sides of the story. Remain campaigners felt therefore that their
opponents’ claims were often given more credence than they
deserved. I also felt the campaign on both sides was dominated
by white men, which left many women feeling alienated. And
tragically, especially online, the debate too often degenerated
into vitriol and abuse. If we are not careful, that, perhaps, is
the most dangerous legacy of the referendum - a licence to
shout at each other.
Q. Turning to the Conservative Party, what do you believe
the state of the party is, the challenges ahead are and
how do you rate Theresa May?
A. The Conservative party is, like Labour, deeply divided, with
the Remain-supporting prime minister now committed to
implementing a Brexit that she never wanted. It is suggested
that she has put the Brexiteers – Boris Johnson, David Davis
and Liam Fox – in charge of the perilous task of negotiating
the UK’s exit from the European Union. But she is the Prime
Minister, and the buck, ultimately, stops with her. If Brexit goes
badly for the UK or, by contrast, if she tries to push through
Brexit against the will of half of the electorate, she will get the
blame. That said, she is an incredibly skilled operator. Not for
nothing did she (almost) make history as one of the longestserving
Home Secretaries, running a department famed for
ending political careers. She not only hung on, but thrived
there, and while her main rivals to the Tory crown – Boris
Johnson and George Osborne - fell by the wayside, she was
the last woman standing. Her reputation for competence made
her the obvious choice to steady nerves in her party and her
country. But her statement on the steps of Number Ten, as
she took power, went far further than that, parking her tanks
on Labour’s lawn, with a pledge to govern for the many, not
the few. Whether that can be done, when her government is
strapped for cash and bogged down with Brexit, remains to
be seen.
Q. Regarding the Labour Party, can it be held together and
what is your opinion of Jeremy Corbyn?
A. If the Tories are divided, so is Labour, with bells on. The majority
of the Parliamentary Labour Party now have no confidence in
their leader, but if they are out of step with him, they are also
out of tune with many of the grassroots activists who have
the final say on any leader. Where the Tories acted decisively
to install a credible one nation leader, Labour struggled to
agree on a “unity candidate” to take on Jeremy Corbyn. As
the parliamentary party scraps, the Scottish nationalists look
far more like an official opposition than Labour. A threadbare
shadow cabinet is in no position to hold the government to
account. And yet as Mr Corbyn tours the country, speaking
to his adoring supporters, all the signs are that he will win
the leadership challenge and be installed again as leader, to
the dismay of most of his MPs. Faced with that prospect, it is
hard to avoid the conclusion that a formal split between MPs
and the grassroots, or, more drastically, the creation of a new
centre left party, are the only choices left. MPs from various
political parties are already having those discussions. So is
Mr Corbyn a decent man who has ended up, by an accident
of history, in the wrong job? Or, as many of his opponents
suggest, a devious man who has engineered the hostile
takeover of Labour by the “loony left”? Either way, Labour is in
no shape to win an election.
Q. How has Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish National
Party performed in 2016 and do you think it is inevitable
that Scotland will become an independent country,
especially in light of the Brexit victory?
A. Nicola Sturgeon remains one of the most formidable politicians
around today. Always impeccably briefed, fleet of foot and
uncompromising in her politics, she is probably the toughest
of interviewees! And as Theresa May, no doubt, found when
she hot-footed it to Bute House immediately after becoming
prime minister, Ms Sturgeon takes no prisoners. That Mrs
May beat a path straight to the Scottish First Minister’s door
spoke volumes about the new Prime Minister’s anxieties post-
Brexit. If the UK has sacrificed one union, the last thing Mrs
May wants is to lose the other, much closer to home. But it
is hard to see how Scotland can remain in the UK when the
country voted so convincingly to remain in the EU. Now that
Brexit is underway, Ms Sturgeon has made it clear that another
independence referendum is on the cards, to avoid the Scots
being dragged out of the EU against their will. But as so few
saw Brexit coming, it would surely be foolish to sketch out
what the political terrain looks like in future. There is many a
slip twixt cup and lip, and who knows what Brexit will look like?
Until we know that, it is impossible to predict whether Mrs May
will succeed in keeping the UK together, where David Cameron
failed to stop Britain falling out of the EU.
Q. Over one year on as leader of the Liberal Democrats, what successes, so far, can
Tim Farron record in his tenure?
A. The 2015 election broke the Liberal Democrats. In government, the party could
legitimately lay claim to having tempered austerity, laundering the Conservatives’ “nasty
party” image. Had David Cameron had to form a coalition once again, he would, no
doubt, have leapt at the chance of dropping the EU referendum to appease his pro-
European governing partner, at the expense of his own right wing. As it was though, the
Liberal Democrats were shattered, returning to Westminster with just eight (all male,
all white) MPs. It must have been tempting to give up and go home. So the party’s new
leader Tim Farron should get plaudits for simply keeping the show on the road. Not just
that, his swift denunciation of the Brexit result has seen the Liberal Democrats actually
gain members. And the truth is, where many might have written the Liberal Democrats
off, Labour’s woes might just give them a new lease of life – a home for left of centre
voters who judge Jeremy Corbyn as too hard-left to take seriously. If Labour gets its
act together, though, it is the Liberal Democrats who may face an existential crisis.
Either way, it is possible that some Liberal Democrat MPs might join forces with Labour
backbenchers. The former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Paddy Ashdown is already
talking about a new centre-left alliance. The question is if that becomes a more formal
party, who on earth would lead it?
Q. Finally, do you think Brexit will be implemented?
A. After the last few extraordinary months, only a fool would claim to know what the future
holds. No one knows exactly what Brexit will look like – not least the three men in the
cabinet tasked with making it happen. There are those who still hanker after a second
referendum, on the basis that a significant number of people who voted to leave now
have buyer’s remorse. But that seems highly unlikely. The people, no matter how divided,
have spoken. However, if the rules on freedom of movement are radically changed across
the EU, there might be an argument for another poll. Or, if Theresa May judges it to her
political advantage, she might possibly decide to get a mandate for any Brexit deal when
it finally comes. Otherwise, the safest bet looks to be an agreement based on some kind
of compromise over freedom of movement coupled with some kind of access to the
single market. But who knows? And whatever gets agreed upon, there will be those who
cry foul – that it is not true Brexit – and those on the other side who say it is Armageddon
for Britain. The truth will, no doubt, be somewhere in between.
CATHY
NEWMAN
Born on 14 July, 1974,
in Guildford, Surrey;
Read English at Lady
Margaret Hall, Oxford
University, graduating
with a first-class
honours degree;
Following university,
worked on The
Independent and the
Financial Times;
Joined Channel
4 News in 2006
as a political
correspondent,
eventually becoming
co-presenter of the
programme in 2011.
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