Sunday shows: Labour on climate, Rosie Duffield, Covid and vaccine passports

Trevor Phillips on Sunday

Labour’s Pat McFadden from the shadow Treasury team urged the government to “get on with the transition to net zero” and said his party wants to see “less reliance on fossil fuels”.

• On rising prices and emergency talks with energy suppliers: “In the short term, what the Business Secretary must do is ensure continuity of supply. That’s a basic duty of government for both domestic consumers and for businesses.”
• On the longer-term implications: “In the long term, what this has shown is the need to get on with the transition to net zero and the vulnerability of the reliance on fossil fuel markets, especially international ones.”
• He added: “This should act as a spark to get on with the transition to net zero, more renewable and sustainable supplies because the effect of all this will be rising prices for consumers.”
• Put to him that price increases have been caused by “unforeseen” events: “The immediate price spike might be unforeseen but the reliance on international markets is foreseen and you can do something about that by investing in your own storage capacity, by making sure you’ve got alternatives to gas and we’re going to have to do this for net zero anyway. So, some of this may be unforeseen but a lot of it should have been foreseen.”
• Asked whether Labour in government would stop the opening of new fossil fuel energy streams: “Individual plans have to be judged on their merits, but the overall direction of travel has to be less reliance on fossil fuels.”
• Pressed on whether Labour would allow new sites to be opened: “The bar should be high for that and there has to be a very convincing case, given the overall arc of where we’ve got to get to on 2030, so I don’t think these things should be approved just on the nod in the way that they would have been in the past because that’s not the future. The future is renewables and sustainable energy.”
• On Rosie Duffield MP not attending Labour conference: “I’d be appalled if Rosie thought that she couldn’t go to the Labour Party conference… I want Rosie to be able to go to conference but, more broadly here, I think there’s an important cultural point about how we discuss things. Difficult issues have to be able to be discussed in a way that doesn’t result in, if someone says something that someone else disagrees with, them being placed completely beyond the pale and subject to terrible online abuse or threats.”
• Asked whether someone posting or sharing abuse should not be welcome at conference: “Yeah, that should be the case, and I think it also underlines the need for cultural change. We cannot have this kind of factionalism, we can’t have this kind of intolerance.”

COP26 President Alok Sharma told Sky News that President Xi Jinping of China has not said “yet” that he will be attending the summit, but added they were “very clear that they want to see COP26 as a success”.

On the ‘Aukus’ pact and its implications for securing a climate deal: “I have spoken to world leaders, ministers, in over 100 governments and there is a very unified view on this. They do see climate change as an issue which is a great leveller. Climate change does not respect borders.”

On the UK’s new trade deal with Australia omitting climate commitments made in the Paris Agreement, Sharma said: “We are not compromising in terms of the environmental measures that we have.”

The Andrew Marr Show

Keir Starmer will be appear next week during Labour conference. Today, mayor Sadiq Khan appeared, saying he is not against vaccine passports but “we’re not there yet”, Rosie Duffield is welcome at conference and he would not stand as an MP again.

• On future Covid plans: “We’re not envisaging shutting London down. We are working really closely with the government to make sure Plan A works.”
• He said in London more than 90% of those above the age of 40 have had one dose, more than 86% have had two, and three quarters of those aged between 18 and 40 have had one dose.
• On London being behind the rest of England on vaccine take-up: “London will always lag behind the rest of the country for three main reasons: our population is more mobile, more diverse and transient.” He said London is “miles ahead” of cities such as Paris and LA.
• On domestic vaccine passports: “We’re not there yet. In principle, I’m not against them. I’m really keen, though, to support our hospitality, our cultural nighttime industries.” He said there are “trigger points” for when government would use vaccine passports: case numbers and R rate.
• He said face masks should be compulsory on public transport and schools need better ventilation.
• Asked to give a one-sentence pitch to convince people to vote Labour: “Because we are going to be the helping hand that enables you and your family to fulfil your potential – decent schools to send your children to do their best, dignity in old age to make sure as a pensioner you’re respectable so during your lifetime able to afford a decent affordable home.”
• On whether ‘someone who thinks only women have a cervix’ is welcome at Labour conference: “They are. One of the things about the Labour Party is it’s a chance to have debate, disagreement, in a respectful way. It’s unacceptable that anybody feels unsafe going to Labour conference, whether it’s Rosie Duffield, whether it’s journalists or anybody else. We must be able to have this conversation in a civilised way.”
• He added: “One out of four trans teenagers tries to kill themselves. These are some of the most vulnerable members of our society and it’s really important we have this debate in a cool, calm, respectful way.”
• On whether he would stand for a seat in London: “No, I’ve got the best job in politics, why would I give it up?”
• On teenagers being killed in London: “This is a big concern… The two big things we’re doing is to support the police, to suppress violence – from City Hall we’re funding more police officers, more than 1,300, but also supporting our communities”.
• On cladding: “The government should pay the cheque to make these homes safe and later on have the argument with the landowners, construction companies and so forth.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey was also asked about trans rights. He said: “We absolutely believe in free speech, but we also believe that we need to protect human rights and we believe in equality.”