Sunday shows: Brexit, WASPI women and Labour’s tax plans

The Andrew Marr Show

Angela Rayner appeared on the show today, saying that the government “stole” the WASPI women’s pensions and answering questions on Labour’s Brexit policy and plans to increase taxes. She also challenged Marr for making gender transition “sound like it’s a lifestyle choice”.

• On Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to remain neutral in a future referendum on the EU: “Well there’s two distinctions there, one is about Jeremy Corbyn and about what Jeremy’s said about what he will do personally, and that’s be an honest broker – so what he wants to do is bring the country back together… What we’re clear on is that people have to have the ultimate say on what happens at the end of this process.”
• When pushed on whether a future Labour government would remain neutral: “Well that’s a hypothetical… what Jeremy’s said and he’s been very clear, and your people that are watching your show today, is that only the Labour Party’s going to give people a choice.”
• She added: “Some of the problems that we have at the moment is the framing of this that everybody’s Remain and that’s just not true. And actually the country did vote to leave the EU and we said we respected that so we’re not going to be like the Lib Dems and just ignore that. We will negotiate a deal and we’ll put that back to the people and they will have the ultimate say and then we’ll move on.”

• On Labour’s pledge to compensate WASPI women: “The government failed the women who were born in the 1950s – they stole their pension, that contract, that agreement that they thought they had and then accelerated it so those women didn’t have the chance to prepare for that… Within that five years of the Labour government we will compensate them for that loss.”
• When asked why this wasn’t funded through tax increases like other Labour commitments: “This is a completely different circumstance… Any government would have to find that money anyway. But the problem is – and we opposed it at the time in 2011 – the Conservatives with the Liberal Democrats stole this money from those women who were born in the 1950s. It’s completely unacceptable and millions of women have been plunged into poverty and don’t just want handouts by social security – they want their money back.”

• When asked why Labour would increase marriage tax allowance: “If you look at the other investment that we’re giving to families – the free childcare, the public services that we’re investing in, the green jobs of the future, investing in our services again – actually the net value to families across the country is going to be significant under Labour compared to the Conservatives.”
• She added: “If you look overall at what our package is everybody, bar the top 5%, will be better off under Labour because if you look at all our other policies – whether that’s around our public services, whether that’s around childcare, whether that’s around tuition fees and students, whether it’s our police – people will be better off under Labour.”
• On Labour’s plan to raise corporation tax: “What we’re suggesting on corporation tax rise won’t even take us the level we were at in 2010 – it’ll be around 10% lower than what it was under Margaret Thatcher.”
• When asked on how Labour would stop companies raising prices in response: “If people don’t buy a product then, you know, the profit goes down so I actually think that’s a baloney. We were told companies would leave when we brought in the national minimum wage… Corporation tax at the moment is so low at 19%.
• She added: “Most companies don’t have the skills for the market at the moment, they’re saying they don’t have the skills base in the UK. My national education service will ensure that we have the skills for the economy of the future. So companies will do better as a result of paying that little bit more.”
• When asked if customer representatives on company boards would have a veto on price rises: “They won’t be vetoing anything. They’ll be on boards and they’ll be having decision making as part of those boards… We’re not going round vetoing people. What we’re saying is that we need to give people a say.”
• On Labour’s manifesto offer to transgender people: “We will be sensitive under the gender recognition act to ensure that people can be valued of who they are and protect their rights. Whether that’s women, whether that’s transgender women, whether that’s men or whether that’s girls and we will make sure that everybody feels valued.”
• She added: “We will protect spaces under the equalities act. We will make sure that women feel protected and that there’s spaces but we’ll also protect transgender women as well.”
• She called out Marr’s use of language with regards trans people: “It’s not that people want to transition, you know, you make it sound like a lifestyle choice… Language like ‘we’re choosing our gender’ really doesn’t make people feel valued and it’s really insensitive to the trauma that many people have to go through.”

Jo Swinson appeared on The Marr Show as well, talking about her record in the coalition government. She said “we were making difficult decisions… and some of those things we got wrong”.

Ridge on Sunday

John McDonnell faced questions about Labour’s pledge to WASPI women, a second referendum, the party’s manifesto commitments and its revenue-raising plans to fund them this morning. He clarified that “95% earners will not have an increase” in their income tax, VAT or national insurance contributions, and defended not including the cost to compensate WASPI women in the manifesto costing document.

• On whether he would stay neutral on a future EU referendum: “No I won’t, but I don’t think Jeremy is asking people to do that… I’ll wait until I see the details of the deal that we negotiate.”
• He added: “I’ve said up until now – I was in the negotiations with the Conservatives for six weeks and I couldn’t see a deal even emerging then that could beat Remain. But let’s see what we can negotiate.”
• On Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to remain neutral: “Jeremy’s role, as he says, will be the honest broker… I think it’s a different type of leadership that we need at the moment. We don’t need a leader that will divide the country – it’s divided already. We need a leader who’ll build consensus and I think Jeremy’s unique character would enable that to happen.”
• On WASPI women: “These are women who have done everything asked of them – they’ve paid in, they expect a retirement age – and then even in court the government had to admit that within the Department for Work and Pensions they knew that people hadn’t been properly informed. The government’s defence then was that legislation doesn’t have to be fair.”
• He added: “It’s expensive – but this is an entitlement. It’s not a benefit.”
• Defending its absence from Labour’s manifesto costing document: “This is a very special arrangement – a contingency – in the same way government has in the past dealt with matters like this.”
• On whether the pledge to WASPI women has come in response to bad press on the issue for the Conservatives: “We’ve been working on this for the last 18 months… and we came to the conclusion that if we didn’t act soon this suffering and stress would continue on but also, as I say, some of these women are older and may not be with us if we don’t act quickly.”
• On why the 32 hour-week proposal also isn’t in Labour’s costing document: “It will only be implemented by increases in productivity within our economy – largely resulting from the investment that we’re putting in. It’s as simple as that.”
• On whether Labour is being honest about their tax proposals only affecting the top 5%: “That’s exactly why I’ve published this. I’ve said very, very clearly what our income tax proposals will be. What will happen on VAT.”
• On whether people will pay more under Labour through measures like raising sugar tax and corporation tax: “95% earners will not have an increase in the income tax rates, or VAT, or national insurance. Where there will be other elements of changes in taxation – we’ve laid them out here as well.”
• He added: “there’ll be other elements, yes that we’ve set out here, where there’s been tax giveaways and we’re saying some of those will be taken back to do what – to invest in our public services.”
• On business under a Labour government:  “No, they’re not the enemy at all… We listen to their views and take some of their views into account. But the more important thing – we’ve said to them, come into government with us.”
• He added: “When I meet with asset managers, pension fund managers and business leaders, I talk them through our investment plans, I talk them through how we’re going to decarbonise our economy and they’re up for this. They’re really up for it.”
• On whether he thinks billionaires should exist: “I want a more equal society… I meet with very rich people in the City and elsewhere and they don’t want to be stepping over homeless people when they come out of their offices.”
• On a second Scottish independence referendum: “I wouldn’t expect anything in the first two or three years.”
• He added: “The Scottish people themselves are saying we’ve got to concentrate on austerity and get that sorted, we’ve got to concentrate on sorting out Brexit. Above all else, we have an existential threat in climate change. That’s a huge agenda. And we see the independence issue in terms of a potential referendum as a distraction from that.”

Sajid Javid also appeared on the show talking about the Conservative manifesto launch to come later today. He claimed Labour’s spending plans amounted to a tax increase of £2,400 for each person but, when questioned, he was unable to say how the calculation had been reached.

LBC

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey appeared on LBC this morning, emphasising his ‘come home to Labour’ message for traditional Labour voters who backed Leave, and commenting on Labour’s WASPI women policy.

On a future referendum…

• Asked about Corbyn remaining neutral in a future referendum: “He’s not a Leaver or a Remainer. What he will do in government is negotiate a credible Brexit deal… and then put it back to the people.”
• On freedom of movement: “It will be replaced by a ‘mobility of movement’ agreement… We need to stop the greedy bosses from using and abusing migrant workers.”

On Labour’s policy to compensate WASPI women…

• On the policy: “I think to be honest, and this is a fact of life… what has effectively happened is John McDonnell and his team have decided that this is a historic redressing and it can be ring- fenced.”
• He argued that the government would have to put together such a solution if the WASPI women win their appeal in court: “If a government lose a case in the court, and this might happen with the WASPI women, then there has to be a ring-fenced approach.”
• When asked whether Labour hadn’t figured the policy out by Thursday but they had got it sorted by Saturday, he replied: “That’s correct.”
• He added: “The team have come up with a way… I’m surmising that that’s what happened.”

On trade unions… 

• He said: “How is it possible that German workers have better protections than British workers… Every worker in Europe has better protections than British workers and that’s a scandal.”
• McCluskey confirmed that he would favour keeping secret ballots and reintroducing secondary picketing: “Solidarity action is within the very veins of trade unionism… Every country in Europe is allowed to do that.”