Sunday shows: Trickett, Benn, Starmer on Brexit

Ridge on Sunday

Chancellor Philip Hammond caused controversy within the Conservative Party as he described another EU referendum as a “coherent proposition” that “deserves to be considered”.

Jon Trickett, MP for Hemsworth and Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office:

• On why Theresa May’s deal isn’t acceptable: “There are obvious reasons why, the most obvious one is the problem with the land border in Ireland.”
• On why Jeremy Corbyn wasn’t at the march for another referendum: “It was a lovely crowd but the job of an alternative government is to try to find a way of bringing all the sides together in our country, rather than dividing it in the way that the government has, on a Brexit but a Brexit that works for everybody.”
• Would you vote for the Prime Minister’s deal plus a customs union? “No. That view simply doesn’t work and the main problem we have is we have got a long term relationship and a backstop from which there is no exit.” (“But the backstop is the customs union.” “The backstop is a customs union but there is no way out of it into a permanent relationship.”)
• How would you vote if there was a second referendum? “I’d vote to remain and reform but we’d have to see what other options were on the table.”

Shadow Cabinet Minister Jon Trickett says he would vote to “remain and reform” if there was a second referendum #Ridge.

Read more about yesterday’s #PeoplesVoteMarch here: https://t.co/EEt2xJGuCn pic.twitter.com/pCmMMvtLpZ

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) March 24, 2019

Hilary Benn, MP for Leeds Central:

• On revoking Article 50 as an option: “If they refused to give us an extension, then parliament would be faced with a choice about whether to use [Article 50 revocation].”

Hilary Benn says he would only consider supporting revoking Article 50 to avoid a no-deal Brexit if, in three weeks, the EU does not give the UK an extension #Ridge pic.twitter.com/cn5iKpHPcS

— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) March 24, 2019

The Andrew Marr Show

Keir Starmer, Shadow Brexit Secretary:

• Confirmed he wasn’t on the ‘Put it to the People’ march.
• On another referendum being implemented by a Labour government: “We had a commitment in 2017 setting out the deal we would negotiate and we supplemented with our conference policy that said in the event of an impasse we’d have a public vote. I would expect our manifesto to build on those commitments.”

#Marr: Can you guarantee another referendum on a #Brexit deal under Labour?

Shadow Brexit Sec Sir Keir Starmer: “That’s a question for the manifesto”https://t.co/C6LGGzDvdG pic.twitter.com/6bx2t4w1Io

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) March 24, 2019