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DERMOT MURNAGHAN: I want to cross now to Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow City Minister, who joins me now from his constituency in Stalybridge, a very good morning to you Mr Reynolds.  I ended there on that question about the gig economy, the growth in self-employment and that decision by the employment tribunal that Über is actually an employer. Would you party like to see legislation on this issue?

JONATHAN REYNOLDS: Well I welcome the decision of the employment tribunal. Über is amazing technology, it’s fantastic what they’ve been able to do but the concern is if technology like that transfers the obligations that we expect from any good business to the rest of us, to taxpayers, to the rest of society in terms of paternity leave, annual holiday, sick pay, well that isn’t a reasonable positon to have so it’s about the balance between the two things and I think it’s an excellent bit of work from the GMB trade union.  Nobody wants to see anybody in work be denied basic employment rights so it’s a step in the right direction, technology should free us up, it should liberate us, it shouldn’t leave us in a position where we enjoy any less employment rights.

DM: Mr Reynolds, can I just get your view on that other issue I was discussing with Mr Hinds there, the issue of disability benefits and how they are going to look at increasing support and targeting they say.  Do you think they should go a lot further and have a look at overall at the cuts coming down the line?

JONATHAN REYNOLDS: Absolutely.  First of all I welcome the government’s recognition that they are getting this wrong, this is a system that has not helped people, it has put a lot of people into misery and quite a lot of suffering and the fundamental problem is it’s punitive.  When people get a letter through the door saying they are getting one of these assessments, they don’t think ‘Brilliant, I’m going to access some more support’, they live in fear of that assessment because it doesn’t take into account the medical situation, it is an administrative test, it doesn’t usually get them in a position where they are getting more support, it leaves them in a position where they are getting that financial support taken away and the fundamental problem has been that the government, the Conservatives have tried to do welfare reform not in a way which gets people back into work but in a way that saves money and that has got to be the big question they’ve got to answer when they take this consultation forward.

DM: Now let’s get on to your own patch, the City and sitting in the middle of that, at the heart of the Bank of England, is of course the governor at the moment, Mark Carney.  Do you think there’s an operation to try and destabilise him by the government?

JONATHAN REYNOLDS: Well it seems completely reckless. When I read the story this morning that some Conservative MPs wanted to replace Mark Carney with Jacob Rees-Mogg, I have to say that was the scariest Halloween story I could have read.  I mean this is deeply irresponsible, if you look at the fall in the pound, the fall in sterling, how will that be helped by forcing the Governor of the Bank of England out?  This is deeply irresponsible.  Mark Carney did the right thing after the Brexit vote, he pacified the economy with the measures that were taken. Conservative MPs can’t blame the Bank of England for the poor performance of the economy over the last six years, they have got to take responsibility for that and this is not helpful in any way to the Brexit process or to the state of the economy as we get close to the autumn statement.  

DM: Would you sound a warning that if a government is seen to have forced out or at least put pressure on an independent governor of a major central bank, that might worry the markets?

JONATHAN REYNOLDS: Yes, absolutely, this in no way would help anybody in Britain, it certainly wouldn’t help our economy.  The operational independence of the Bank of England should be sacrosanct.  John McDonnell said exactly that in his speech earlier in the week.  Of course politicians can change the mandate of the inflation target for the Bank of England, we can change the Bank of England [at] but once we’ve got those things in place, that operational independence must be respected and the last thing this country needs right now is more of this chaotic irresponsible behaviour from Conservative back benchers.

DM: Now I wanted to ask you about the Richmond by-election coming up next month, we expect, coming up 1st December anyway, do you genuinely believe that Labour should not stand a candidate in that by-election to maximise the so-called progressive vote?

JONATHAN REYNOLDS: Well that was a personal view, we are going to stand a candidate. I thought it was something that worth consideration if the local party were agreeable to that but that’s not the direction we’ve taken, I respect that so I’ll be out campaigning for our Labour candidate once they’re picked and we are going to play a full role in that by-election.

DM: You’ve returned to the front bench haven’t you, you didn’t think much of Jeremy Corbyn a few months ago but now you’re back working with him, why the volte-face?

JONATHAN REYNOLDS: Well it’s Brexit in the main, I think the Brexit process is going to be something completely fundamental to my life, to anyone who lives in Britain now and to the political process for many years to come and I am deeply worried, I am genuinely deeply worried by what we’ve seen from the Conservative party so far, not just this forcing out the Governor of the Bank of England story but the messages that we’ve sent out on foreign workers, the failure to say EU nationals should remain here.  We seem to be talking now about a sector by sector, maybe a factory by factory Brexit deal, that’s not the way to get the best result for this country and that process, this negotiation has to be scrutinised in parliament and of course I want to play a part in that, I think that’s what any MP needs to be doing right now.

DM: And tell me, as Shadow City Minister, what kind of soundings are you taking in the City then?  Are you having a lot of lunches and a good reception, can you tell me who you’ve been to see?

JONATHAN REYNOLDS: Yes, I have had quite a good time in the City so far.  Obviously the City isn’t just the square mile and Canary Wharf but I have spent being an MP in London in the week quite a bit of time there, I’ve been to see the Bank of England and the Governor, I’ve been to the Guildhall, I’ve talked to many people so far and I can genuinely tell you, people tell me they have never before had so little confidence in a Conservative Prime Minister on the economy with the anti-business rhetoric they’re coming out with and they are very scared about what they’ve heard so far about the Brexit strategy the government seems to be adopting and they want some more details from them on what the way forward will be.

DM: Well what City businesses have you been to see?  You said the Guildhall and the Bank of England what about the ones that make the money there?

JONATHAN REYNOLDS: Yes, I’ve been to see some of the banks, some of the asset management organisations and people in insurance and I’ve had a very good reception from people.  I did anticipate that was a question people would want to ask of any new Shadow City Minister but I can tell you I have spent a lot of time there and I am very much enjoying the job so far …

DM: But which ones?  Have you been spending your time walking around or have you actually been let in the door?  Which ones have you seen, Mr Reynolds?

JONATHAN REYNOLDS: I’ve been to see people from Barclays, I’ve been in talks with people from the Financial Conduct Authority, I’ve met the Governor of the Bank of England, I’ve met the Chief Economist of the Bank of England so there has been a very wide open door to me, it hasn’t been the case that people haven’t been willing to talk to Labour about this.  They want to work with the opposition and they want this to be a successful process for the country, we’ve got to get Brexit right.

DM: Okay, Shadow City Minister, Jonathan Reynolds, thank you very much indeed.