Priti Patel spoke to Trevor Phillips ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration and commented on the president-elect’s relationship with Nigel Farage. Phillips also spoke with Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury.
Sunday 19 January 2025 09:53, UK
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Next, Mr Jones is asked about Donald Trump’s inauguration.
On Sadiq Khan’s comments about the resurgence of fascism (see post 8.52) Mr Jones says he hasn’t seen the article and “wouldn’t associate” himself with those words.
Asked if he would dissociate himself from that language, he says: “Yes, I would and if you have questions about that, clearly it is for Sadiq to answer.”
We have just cut away from our interview with Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to bring you breaking news about the ceasefire in Gaza (see previous post).
But the interview was pre-recorded, so we can still fill you in on what was discussed.
On his own brief in The Treasury, Mr Jones is asked about train unions asking for a 10% pay rise.
He says trade unions “will always start high” with negotiations and the government will discuss what is affordable to the public sector.
On the government’s plan for growth, Mr Jones is asked about businesses calling for ministers to dump the workers rights agenda because it’s costing them more money.
Mr Jones says he doesn’t agree these measures, such as giving people protections from day one instead of after their probation, are a barrier to growth.
“You can take the view that economic growth is built off the back of more people in vulnerable and insecure work because it’s cheap labour that you can sack quickly, or you can take the view that economic growth that works for the whole country is built off the back of, you know, good workers rights and secure incomes.”
He says taxpayers “are on the receipt when people are mistreated at work because we have to pay for universal credits or other types of payment if people can’t get sustainable incomes for their family finances”.
“These are sensible protections for workers. These are not anti-growth measures, and there’s much more work that we can be doing where the government and business have a shared agenda,” he adds.
Read more about the story here:
We have paused the interview with Mr Jones to bring you some breaking news:
A Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has come into effect.
The long-sought ceasefire for Gaza, where Israel has been waging a powerful military campaign for the past 15 months, was agreed by Israel’s cabinet on Friday night after a breakthrough in negotiations mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt was announced on Wednesday.
It was initially set to begin at 6.30am today, but it was put on hold by Benjamin Netanyahu after Hamas failed to issue the list of the hostages up for release to Israel.
Israel confirmed it would go ahead at 9.15am after it received a list of hostages in Gaza to be released today.
Next up on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips is Darren Jones, the chief secretary to The Treasury,
Asked about his reaction to the situation in Gaza, he says it is “evidently disappointing” and Hamas needs to produce the list of hostages it says it will release as part of the deal.
Asked if Hamas could become the permanent de facto force in Gaza, Mr Jones says the UK Government is “going to have to work with the organisations that are in place in order to facilitate the distribution of aid”.
“That’s the most important first step, I think, to get the people that need it the most.”
He adds that as well as focusing on aid being distributed, governments must “get back around the table with that hope of a sustainable two-state solution”.
He says he feels like the opportunity for the ceasefire “is still there” but “it does obviously feel fragile, especially for people on the ground right now”.
“This is the closest we have been since 7 October to get to a ceasefire and we’ve got to make every opportunity available to us to make sure that that happens,” he adds.
Asked what the UK’s relationship with the US should look like, given Mr Trump’s warnings about trade tariffs, Ms Patel says the Labour government should build on the previous work of the Conservatives in trying to strike a free trade deal.
She said Sir Keir Starmer should “not even be entering these discussions around tarrifs”.
“Trump is within his right to make the statement he wants about tariffs,” she says.
“I’d urge Sir Keir Starmer’s government to step up to the plate rather than making disparaging remarks,” she says in relation to Sadiq Khan’s comments (see previous post).
Mr Khan is not in government, and his remarks have not been endorsed by ministers.
Asked whether the Conservatives need to “make peace” with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to get a hearing with Mr Trump, given Farage’s close relationship with the incoming US leader, she says that “isn’t a relevant point”.
She says the Republican Party is the Conservative’s “sister party” and they have worked together for decades.
“We are not a pop-up act in the way in which they [Reform UK] are,” she adds.
Ms Patel is now asked about comments by the Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who said Trump’s inauguration heralds the “resurgence of fascism”.
Asked if she agrees she says “no I don’t”, and that is “not surprising” as there is usually very little she agrees with Mr Khan on.
“It’s not for other countries to start making disrespectful and disparaging comments about Mr Trump,” she says.
She says the incoming president has a clear mandate and “we should respect that”.
She repeats that the mood in Washington is “one of hope and optimism”.
Writing in The Observer, Mr Khan said on Sunday: “We should be in no doubt, this is a perilous moment. The spectre of a resurgent fascism haunts the West …
“To ward off the far-right, we must be unflinching in defence of our democracy and values, and in our determination to enhance the welfare and material conditions of our communities.”
Mr Khan was targeted by Trump in a series of posts on X, then Twitter, during his first presidency. Read more about that here:
First up on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips is Dame Priti Patel, the former home secretary and now shadow foreign secretary in the opposition.
She is speaking to us from Washington DC, where incoming US president Donald Trump will be officially sworn in tomorrow.
But first she is asked about the delayed ceasefire in Gaza – and the news that a British-Israeli hostage may be freed after a list of three names were published by Hamas.
She says this is “very delicate and fragile situation”.
“The families in Israel must be going through unimaginable anxiety,” she says.
“We have to wait and see what materialises throughout the day, It’s a delicate and fragile situation”.
She adds: “We want to see all the hostages released, the start of three is incredibly important.”
Asked about the mood over in the US against this backdrop, she says “unimaginable suffering” has happened on both sides and everyone wants to see the conflict come to an end.
But she says in regard to the inauguration, there’s a “sense of optimism” that people are about to see change.
Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips is live on Sky News from 8.30am this morning.
We will be speaking to:
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel
Hostage family member Moshe Lavi
Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot
That’s it for another week in politics.
Join us again on Sunday morning for Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.
When Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is just one point behind you in the opinion polls, the last thing you want to be reminded about is Brexit.
If you’re Sir Keir Starmer, that is.
No doubt Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, was trying to be friendly. After all, as Sir Keir said, they share a passion for Arsenal Football Club.
But when Mr Tusk declared at their joint news conference in Warsaw that his dream was “instead of a Brexit, we will have a Breturn”, Sir Keir visibly cringed.
Was it an ambush? Not quite. But it was certainly awkward for the UK prime minister. He stood stiffly and didn’t respond, not once uttering the word “Brexit”.
Mr Tusk, however, has form for bemoaning Brexit. He was, after all, the president of the European Council when the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016.
He might now be in his second spell as Poland’s PM, but his five years at the EU make him the ultimate Brussels insider, who’s never made any attempt to hide his feelings on Brexit.
Prior to the UK referendum, in September 2015, he said Brexit “could be the beginning of the destruction of not only the EU but also of western political civilisation in its entirety”.
His most outspoken attack on the UK’s Eurosceptics came in 2019 when the-then prime minister Theresa May was struggling to get a deal. He spoke of “what the special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit”.
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