ANY QUOTES USED SHOULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO SKY NEWS, SOPHY RIDGE ON SUNDAY

SOPHY RIDGE: This was meant to be the week when the UK’s deal with the EU was signed and sealed but with no agreement on the tricky issue of the Irish border there is still deadlock. To break the impasse, the two sides might agree to a longer transition period but that brings its own problems with Brexiteer MPs in Westminster set to oppose any move which keeps Britain tied to EU rules for longer than necessary. So to try and wade our way through all this, I’m joined in the studio now by the Brexit Minister, Suella Braverman. Thank you very much for being with us this morning. Now before we get to the nitty-gritty of the negotiations, I just want to take a bit of a step back. Last month’s summit ended in impasse, as Theresa May said; last week the talks again broke up with no agreement; now the EU is saying there may as well be no summit next month because there’s not been enough progress made – at what point do we start to panic?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: I think progress is actually going very well on our Brexit negotiations and we have actually made huge progress on agreeing certain aspects with the EU, issues which this time last year were deemed to be intractable, things like the position of EU citizens, we’ve agreed an implementation period with the EU, we’ve resolved issues to do with governance and dispute resolution.

SR: So if such huge progress has been made, why is there not a summit on the cards for next month?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: Well we have actually made this progress and the draft legal treaty relating to our withdrawal, as I say, technical, legal, complex and that should be applauded. It doesn’t always get the headlines, the good news and the progress, unfortunately but it is definitely real and on the other hand we have also got to remember how the EU negotiates. I don't think there has ever been a treaty or an agreement that the EU has struck which hasn’t been agreed at the final hour in their timeline so it’s not time for panicking, it’s time for staying calm and staying focused on the goal that we’re all on track to secure.

SR: You previously said no deal would be great, do you still think that’s true?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: No deal will be something that this country will be able to survive, it won’t be a walk in the park but it won’t be a disaster either. Our country will be able to put in place whatever needs to be done, we will ensure that trade continues to flow smoothly, we will be able to get through it. It’s not the ideal outcome, let’s not beat about the bush on that, but definitely we can thrive in a no deal situation as well.

SR: Okay, well let’s talk about the movement, the latest movement, shall we, the Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab talking about this possible extension to the implementation period or the transition period, is that something that you could accept?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: We need to keep it in context of the negotiations. So we have, as you rightly said, a difficulty with the Irish backstop, with the EU and the EU have put forward a proposal which is completely unacceptable to the UK which would carve off Northern Ireland essentially. The backstop is something that we don’t expect to use, it’s an insurance policy in a last resort so this is about an issue which is something we don’t think will be realised but we have to resolve it in either sense and what the Secretary of State said to the EU, Dominic Raab has put forward today and echoing the sentiments of the Prime Minister, is that potentially – bearing in mind this is all still part of the negotiation and not an agreed position, potentially extending the implementation period by a few months. If that would resolve this backstop issue then …

SR: So in other words it’s saying that if the EU drops its demand for this backstop, then the transition can be extended? It’s a bit of a quid pro quo.

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: It’s a negotiation, yes and Dominic has been clear that we would accept a potential extension by a few months subject either to a finite time limit or a mechanism to extricate ourselves from it if it meant breaking this impasse and avoiding the very unattractive proposal by the EU which is an indefinite customs union and a limbo period which would cause complete uncertainty and not honour Brexit.

SR: Just to be clear, because I know we can get far down in the weeds in these discussions, but we’re talking here about the transition deal extension to the replace the EU’s backstop, not the UK’s proposed backstop which is to keep the whole of the UK in a customs union?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: Well we want a UK wide backstop alternatively so what our proposal was, was a temporary customs arrangement which meant that the whole of the UK was treated the same, there wouldn’t be a border down the Irish Sea and we would retain that essential integrity of the United Kingdom. Completely reasonable and something that this government is duty bound to deliver and the EU have been unable to come halfway on that proposal so we need to try and find an alternative if we want to strike a deal and ultimately if this does get us to a deal, which is what we all want, then I’m willing to explore it.

SR: Would you accept any backstop if it didn’t have a time limit written into it?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: Well we’ve been clear, we are not accepting the EU’s proposal.

SR: But the backstop, the UK’s proposal on the backstop, would you be happy to accept that without a time limit?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: We need to have finality, we need to … I’m someone who campaigned to leave the European Union and I’m very optimistic about our country’s prospects outside of the EU and we need to leave the customs union…

SR: But would you accept it without a date written in?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: Well we need a date or a very clear mechanism or clause in this agreement which enables us to get out of it and that needs to provide assurance to people and myself that we all need to know that there’s a way out of it. We cannot sign up to something which is in perpetuity, vague and leaves us exposed to an indefinite membership of a customs union. That would be unacceptable.

SR: Could it be a backstop without a date?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: We need to look at the details and see what comes forward and there could be many options as to how we reassure voters and we deliver on the Brexit objectives.

SR: Okay, taking a step back, what it seems to me is that we’re not going to be leaving the EU in reality in March next year because the backstop will be in place or there will be an extended transition. I mean when are we going to be able to leave the EU as you would see it as a Brexiteer, able to strike our own trade deals, able to diverge from EU rules? When’s that going to happen?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: Well it is a settled legal position, it is enshrined in statute that we are leaving the European Union on 29th March 2019.

SR: So are we going to be able to strike trade deals then?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: Well we will be under the terms of the withdrawal agreement that we signed, that we have nearly agreed with the EU, we will be able to negotiate, sign and ratify trade deals with third countries, like we just heard the US are very keen to negotiate with us, Singapore are very keen to strike an agreement with us so we will, according to the terms of this withdrawal agreement, during the implementation period, have this freedom for the first time in 40 years to negotiate, sign and ratify trade deals but they won’t come into effect until after the implementation period.

SR: Okay, now a few weeks ago I interviewed your old boss, David Davis, on this show and if we can just have a look at how he described the Prime Minister’s Chequers deal, this is how he described it: “Just wrong. If we got Chequers the Europe issue wouldn’t go away, the toothache we’ve had for 30 years on this subject would still be there for another 20 years.” As someone who is a committed Brexiteer, is he right?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: Listen, I was very honoured to work under David Davis in the department and I have a lot of respect for him as someone who achieved a lot during his time in the post and there are many views about Chequers but I am here in the government, I am …

SR: So what’s your view then?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: I see Chequers as a pragmatic proposal, it takes us forward in the negotiations, it honours the referendum result in that it ends free movement of people, it takes us out of the Common Fisheries Policy and I’ve got a coastal constituency, I’ve met many of the fishermen there who have seen their livelihoods decimated by the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy, Chequers takes us out of that. It stops the Common Agriculture Policy, it stops us being part of the jurisdiction of the ECJ and it stops us sending billions of pounds a year to the EU. For me – and it means we can have control of our rules when it comes to services, so I am very confident about Chequers as a proposal to move the negotiations forward and I’m hopeful that we will strike a deal with the EU ultimately.

SR: What I’m trying to work out is you are a keen Brexiteer, you were Chair of the ERG, your Brexiteer colleagues – Boris Johnson, David Davis, Steve Baker – all resigned but here you are, you are being loyal, you are defending Chequers. Are you a Brexit sleeper agent trying to work out what the government is doing and telling your mates on the backbenches?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: I’ve been called many things but I haven’t been quite called that Sophy! I’m here because I want to deliver Brexit, I’m enthusiastic about our nation’s prospects outside of the EU. We are going to be able to strike great trade deals with other countries, we’re going to be able to expand the markets for UK businesses and exporters and manufacturers, there’s huge demand out there. We’ll be able to set our own rules and regulations, I think this is a great prospect and opportunity for us and I’m really enthusiastic in playing a part in helping to deliver that.

SR: Now we’ve been talking a lot about policy but we need to talk about personality because the front pages this morning are absolutely brutal reading for the Prime Minister. The Sunday Times says she is entering the killing zone, the Mail quotes somebody saying she needs to bring a noose to the meeting of backbenchers next week. It’s absolutely brutal, has she lost control of her party?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: No. The Prime Minister is leading us through, is navigating this course through what is unprecedented for our country, it’s the biggest challenge that we’re facing.

SR: So what would you say to your colleagues then who use this brutal language?

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: Colleagues are free to express themselves in the way they wish but I am very clear that our party is stronger when it’s united and our party is stronger when we are united …

SR: Well they seem to be united against the country.

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: No, I disagree with that. When I knock on doors in my constituency I meet many people who provide their full support for the Prime Minister and just want her to get on with the job and I think division in our party isn’t great for our country and it sends a really negative message to our European and global partners as well and so I just want unity in our party. I know that we all believe in very similar values as Conservatives, we know that the biggest threat facing this country is a Jeremy Corbyn government which no one wants here, it would ruin our country, bankrupt our nation and diminish our place on the world stage and I think that should focus our minds as Conservatives and we should unite. I know that many of us want the same objectives and we feel passionately about the prospects for our country.

SR: Someone who is often talked about as a potential caretaker leader is David Davis who of course you worked closely with, do you think he’d make a good Prime Minister.

SUELLA BRAVERMAN: I am here supporting the current Prime Minister, Theresa May, to deliver Brexit. I know that she wants to succeed in this unprecedented exercise that we’re all facing and I’m very pleased to be supporting her.

SR: Very nicely sidestepped. Suella Braverman, thank you very much.