Sunday shows: Rebecca Long-Bailey, John McDonnell and Richard Burgon

Ridge on Sunday

John McDonnell appeared on the show this morning to talk about the resignation of the senior civil servant Philip Rutnam, the upcoming budget and the Labour leadership race.

• On the resignation of Rutnam following allegations of bullying by Priti Patel: “I can’t remember a case like this, there must be something pretty bad that’s gone on.”
• On Boris Johnson: “Within a couple of months, he’s lost his chancellor and now it looks as though he’s going to lose his Home Secretary as well. I think that says something about Boris Johnson’s own abilities.”
• On government plans for the budget: “It doesn’t look like they’re going to use the scale of investment that’s needed to solve the problems… They are not tackling how you pay for those services, in particular fair taxation system and tackling tax avoidance.”
• Asked “what’s gone wrong” for Rebecca Long-Bailey in the Labour leadership race: “I don’t think it’s a matter of going wrong. Members will make the decision. We’ll see what comes out in the final vote.”
• On whether he is resigned to Long-Bailey losing to Keir Starmer: “I still hope she wins. I think there’s a good chance she will – we’ve got a long way to go in the election campaign.”
• Shown a clip of the TV debate where the candidates clashed on antisemitism and asked whether Long-Bailey spoke out while in the shadow cabinet: “She did. I was there. Keir did. So did Becky.”
• Asked if he is worried about the next leader abandoning Corbynism: “No… All three of them have actually endorsed the overall political analysis that we had.”
• On the failure of Corbyn and himself to win the election: “Brexit overtook us, and it was like a tsunami hitting us.”
• Asked if he had any regrets about his time as Shadow Chancellor: “Up until 2017, it was easy – end austerity. After that, we never really had a clear narrative and I should have been firmer about that.”

The Andrew Marr Show

Richard Burgon told Andrew Marr that Labour would be in government now if not for the 2016 coup, invited Tony Blair to study at his Tony Benn college and explained why he has not signed up to the pledges put forward by the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

• On whether he is the ‘continuity Corbyn’ candidate: “I certainly am and I want to defend what I think are the three pillars of Corbynism: democratic members-led party, and anti-austerity, public ownership party and an anti-war, internationalist party.”
• On the last election: “I think it became a Brexit election. Brexit ended up overshadowing traditional party loyalties… I think we could have won it if it hadn’t been for Brexit.”
• On why Labour lost: “It wasn’t our socialist policies that caused us to lose… What changed in those two years was the Brexit issue. And also the right-wing press upping it’s game and demonising Jeremy.”
• On Starmer moving the party towards the centre: “I don’t think there is a future for the Labour politically, morally or electorally, by trying to triangulate our way back to power.”
• On loyalty to the leadership: “If it hadn’t have been for the disloyalty and disgraceful behaviour by members of the Parliamentary Labour Party in 2016, we would be three years into a Labour government by now.”
• On the last manifesto: “Whoever is elected to be the leader of the Labour Party, they won’t have a mandate to ditch a single socialist policy without the express permission of Labour members.”
• On his pledge to create a Tony Benn school: “What this is about, the Tony Benn School of Political Education, is offering something that will empower Labour members – not just books and writings by Tony Benn.”
• Asked if Blair be welcome to come talk at the college: “He would be welcome to come and learn… Blair introduced tuition fees – he could come and study for free at the Tony Benn school of political education… The students could interview him if they so wished.”
• On his past comment that “Zionism is the enemy of peace”: “I made a mistake in saying that… I think it’s important that we all get involved in the Labour Party fulfilling our moral duty to fight antisemitism.”
• On his refusal to sign up to the BoD pledges: “I feel uncomfortable as a non-Jewish person, signing up to a pledge that refers to other Jewish groups as “fringe Jewish groups”… I want to work with the BoD and groups rights across the Jewish community.”

5 Live Politics

Labour leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey was on 5 Live Politics – formerly Pienaar’s Politics – today, and discussed the resignation of senior civil servant Rutnam.

• She said that she wants to see an immediate “independent judge-led inquiry – not led by cabinet office, so that the government has the ability to influence what happens in that investigation”.
• Long-Bailey added that she feels the government should “offer to pay this particular civil servant’s legal fees, or at least promise not to seek costs in his case after what he’s been through”.
• She pledged that, as Labour leader, she would hire her “own senior judge or ex-permanent secretary to investigate this matter as quickly as possible”.
• This differs from the plan put forward by her fellow candidate, Starmer, who has called for an investigation led by the cabinet secretary.