Sky News interview with Beth Rigby: Iran, the cost of living and Europe

There is indeed a strong indication that Iran played a part. This remains though a complex and very serious police investigation. So I can't say anymore at this stage. People will know though it's consumed quite a considerable amount of my time here in Liverpool this week. I did chair Cobra on Monday.

We have been waiting to confirm uh what we could say but we can now uh confirm our belief that Iran played a part. Uh I will update um people more in due course but just at this moment to thank Glstership Police, the counterterrorism police for the outstanding job that they've done.

Well, at this stage um there is not an urgent need uh to do that. But should that arise, of course, I wouldn't hesitate. I didn't hesitate to call the Cobra meeting this week. I wouldn't hesitate to recall parliament uh should that be necessary.

I don't see it that way. You know, if I look at what I said about water, for instance, there's a clear majority of people in Britain who say the privatization of water has been a disaster, they would probably say something similar about energy, or although it's a slightly different case on social care. Can anyone say the status quo is acceptable? Anybody? I don't think so, Beth.

They want somebody to grasp the nettle. That's what I was doing yesterday. I wasn't being divisive. I didn't uh talk about uh the other party leaders or the other parties. I spoke about what I would do, okay, as prime minister.

You have to lead as prime minister and to lead is to choose and I said these are my choices. I think these are the right choices for Britain if I'm to lead Britain out of where it has been to a better place. I will have to make choices. And I laid them out and I did it like that to leave people in no doubt about where I want to leave Britain.

Well, just on electoral reform, indeed that isn't divisive because most of the political parties have indicated support.

Not on everything. No. Um by taking the decision that I've taken around the triple lock, it allows preparation to start now for the in- once it could answer. It's really important. It allows preparation to start now for a national care service to be introduced in the 2030s.

So it deals um with something that has held us back actually a failure on social care to say in what direction are we going? I am prepared to do that where my predecessors in this role haven't been prepared to do that.

Just to be clear, I'm not going to call an early general election. No, I'm not. I'm happy to make that absolutely clear.

I can do what I can.

And I can say to you that tomorrow VAT comes off electricity bills. So that is evidence that I will do what I can. I will put that two pound cap on buses back in 2027. I I'm aware that I can't solve everything because some of the um pressures are created out with our control.

It's going to be a tough winter. There's no doubt about that. And that's why I think all of the time about what can I do? What is under my control to do something to help people? So, it's not just the cost of living, it's the cost of running a business.

And we're looking at those issues as we head towards the budget as well as what more can we do.

But what is the option that is not to do that? You know, it's about trying, isn't it? Trying you your best to help people in any way I can. But what I can't do is come up with ideas that are not funded. And then we get back to the situation where we were in where unfunded budget proposals caused a run on people's mortgages and that created even bigger problems for the country.

I've got to do this working within uh the fiscal rules and making sure we don't take risks with the British economy. But within that I will give as much breathing space to the British public and British businesses as I can.

Well, if you're if you're talking about um energy prices, that is a very household scenario. But no, but just let me say if you look at what the ONS has said today about quarter 2 growth, we've had uh stronger figures than expected. So the the underlying performance of the British economy is is improve.

It's way too early to jump to that conclusion. What I have said is if I'm going to set out a 10-year journey for Britain, you have to address this question of what is our long-term relationship with our nearest neighbors and largest market. You know, if we want to look at how we get growth back into the British economy in a bigger way, we have to face up to things that politicians sometimes turn away from. The whole theme of my speech yesterday is I'm not going to do the politics as usual. I'm going to face things that are difficult like social care, like Europe, and then be honest with the public about the options.

I personally believe we need to get uh closer because we have not had a good decade. We've had a decade of of low growth, too much division. I'm the seventh prime minister in 10 years. That's the decade since Brexit. We have to make the next decade ahead of us, much better than the last.

I said in my lifetime and I've said that I'm not going to.

I think the uh

but in my lifetime is the key phrase there because it depends what that means and I I'm giving you there you know a sort of a a principle feeling but what's the deal? You know what would Europe say?

Well there's a whole range of options isn't there? Canada is talking about a new relationship with Europe. George Osborne has proposed the customs union proposed staying as we are is absolutely an option and I'm very conscious that my constituency had a majority to leave a decade ago.

So public opinion in Britain has changed. This isn't about leaping to a referendum or leaping to any option. It's about being honest that Britain needs to settle its long-term relationship with Europe and we need to lay out the options, see where people's uh feelings are and then see if there is okay a consensus that we can unite around.

Well, savings on that scale uh would be um enough to pay for social care, but obviously they're not released immediately. But the point here that we need to um focus on is it's not about savings to the government. This is about creating a much better deal for older people because today there will be people out there watching Sky News who are paying care charges from their basic state pension or the the income that they have got. And that that isn't fair. The worst of all worlds is what we've got right now.

No, because um there's a different way of doing it if you if you delay the date of introduction and you you introduce a national care service progressively, but you could do it in a in a different way. You could do it earlier. So Louise Casey, Baroness Casey is looking at all of these issues for I'm not trying to avoid any question because actually I faced up to a massive question yesterday. What I did in making that decision about adjusting the triple lock in 2030 opens up now the ability for us to prepare for a national care service so that it can be introduced and that is a huge step forward on an issue that Westminster has basically ignored for 30 years

Well, I knew that was the bit of the speech that I was going to struggle with. Um, I poured everything into that bit cuz it was everything I wanted to say about him. Um, and it's hard even now, but I mean he was a proud son of this city. I mean, you know, he represented everything it was about, but also what this country is about. And I just wanted to talk about that in relation to where Britain is at and the idea that Britain might break up.

Well, I wanted to talk about that because my dad believed in people sticking together and unions of people, unions of countries. That's what he believed in and that's what he taught me. You're always better if you're working with people and you know working and reaching out with people. So that's what he he believed and I wanted to speak to that in relation to the Britain that I believe in. I want Britain to stick together.

I want Britain uh to be able to have uh prospects for people in every single postcode that are better than they've been and that will be the way we we stick together. So I'm It's been hard because I came into this job, this journey as prime minister knowing he was ending his journey. Um and it has been difficult, but the best thing to do is to channel it because it reminds me why am I doing it? Why am I doing this job? I'm doing it not just cuz I wanted the job because I want to change things in a way that he always said to me things do need to change to be fairer to cities like this.

Well, he would uh want me to be bold on on social care. If he could have done, he would have spoken, you know, in raptures about the staff who cared for him. Staff who came from around the world, by the way, and that is important to say. He fought racism and discrimination all of his life. He would have championed those staff with everything.

Absolutely everything. So, yeah, it's hard. I mean, he would have said the same about the NHS. He would have said the same though about growing the economy. He was, you know, a very entrepreneurial character as well.

You know, he wanted people to get on in life and and do well. He would have talked about an education system that prioritizes technical skills, not just the university route. Uh his sons went to university, but he never he never did. He he forged his own path through night school and was very much about technical uh education. And he would say to me, "No, it's got to be both.

you know, do both things together in a comprehensive education system. So, he he would stand for all of those things. He ran through every word of that speech yesterday as as my whole family did. It was it was what we are about as as people and I hope it connected with with the country. I I don't know.

I could only stand up there and be honest. I'd just come to the view. I'd really thought hard about the speech. You know, I'm not I'm not going to do the political thing of the focus group say this or they say that. What you got was what I believe in yesterday.

People can like it or not like it. It's the only way I can lead this country forward.