{"id":1060,"date":"2018-09-13T10:31:03","date_gmt":"2018-09-13T10:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnesspoliticsjournal.wordpress.com\/?p=1060"},"modified":"2021-10-10T15:20:47","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T15:20:47","slug":"sir-nicholas-soames-interview-its-not-as-easy-as-it-bloody-well-looks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=1060","title":{"rendered":"Sir Nicholas Soames interview: \u2018It\u2019s not as easy as it bloody well looks\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 56 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Will Parker speaks with the grandson of Winston Churchill and Conservative MP since 1983 on young people\u2019s prospects, the Brexit challenge, and defence. <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to speaking his mind, Sir Nicholas Soames is a straight shooter. Now preferring the touch of the keypad to the squeeze of the trigger, and having long ago swapped live ammunition for 280 characters \u2013 the former soldier is still firing. His frequent tweeting to Nigel Farage, addressing him as a \u2018#nuclearpoweredchateaubottledt**t\u2019, <\/em>or simply \u2018#t**t\u2019, <\/em>should have meant his curt response to my first question came as no surprise.<\/p>\n

 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s about a dour and a sour background you could invoke\u201d, he retorts, after being asked \u2013 as the first generation to be poorer than their parents, live in a Brexit Britain most voted against, inhabit a house they can\u2019t own, and piled with student debt – why young people should vote Conservative.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people go to university because they want to go to university, not for any other reason. These are very difficult days, you can\u2019t make a generalisation of the whole thing. Most of the students I meet are having a wonderful time at university, doing very well, learning a great deal \u2013 more and more people are going to university and I think it\u2019s quite right they are charged tuition fees\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/em><\/p>\n

However, Soames is surprisingly candid in displaying his views on how young people should vote.  He refuses the invitation to outline his case for why they should vote Tory, deciding to lay out his criteria against which it is for them to decide. \u201cIf I was a young person I would say I want to see that the future of the economy which I\u2019m going to go into, with a good job with a good income to earn the money to buy a house\u2026 The question is, do you want an economy run by Jeremy Corbyn or one however badly run you think it is by the Conservative Party. It\u2019s not an answer I can make\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m more and more convinced that we should lower the voting age\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In that case does he think Corbyn possesses any of the answers? \u201cIt\u2019s not for me to say he possesses none of the answers, no. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s got some answers but I don\u2019t think the socialist programme would suit the aspirations you and your young friends have\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Soames acknowledges that connecting with the younger voter is something the Party needs to work on, yet is unsure that a Conservative equivalent of Momentum <\/em>is the antidote. \u201cI think the importance of reaching out to young people at all levels is very much recognised and will happen. No, we don\u2019t have a Momentum \u2013 I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d want a Momentum<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Determined to portray himself as someone simply interested in doing the \u2018right thing\u2019 for young people, Sir Nicholas goes on, arguing against the Conservative Party position on votes for 16 & 17 year olds. \u201cI\u2019m more and more convinced that we should lower the voting age\u2026 I don\u2019t see why people shouldn\u2019t vote when they\u2019re 16. If it\u2019s right that young people should have the vote then we should pursue it. The point is not that it creates more votes but that it\u2019s the right thing to do\u201d. Any notion that this would be a strategic attempt to wheeze the Conservative Party off their reliance on the older voter is absent in his reply.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Next, was Brexit. Though not stating it during our interview, it is clear that this was the reason why Soames has been floating the idea of a government of national unity: \u201cBrexit is an absolutely consuming process which is devouring the government\u2026 This is the greatest administrative problem that this country has had to deal with since 1940, it\u2019s not an easy matter, it\u2019s a process not an event\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the greatest administrative problem that this country has had to deal with since 1940\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He is not uncritical of Theresa May\u2019s Brexit stewardship either. \u201cIt is my view, and I\u2019ve expressed it very strongly to the Prime Minister, that we should be forging ahead with our vision for a post-Brexit Britain\u2026 particularly on education, on housing, on the National Health Service \u2013 there is an enormous amount of work that goes on every day but it\u2019s not at the centre of the government\u2019s effort, which faute de mieux [for want of a better alternative] has to be the Brexit process. So, it\u2019s not as easy as it bloody well looks\u2026 we have to manage it, and I\u2019m glad to say we need to manage it better\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In short, it is evident the former Remainer dislikes Brexit, believes his \u201cconstituents are sick to death of bloody Brexit\u201d, and wishes it done so the government can return to the domestic agenda.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Describing himself as sitting in the pragmatic middle of the Conservative Party, he has little time for those on the extremes. Calls from \u2018Remoaner\u2019 colleagues for a second referendum or \u2018People\u2019s Vote\u2019 are \u201cunhelpful to the due process\u201d,  despite admiring Jacob Rees-Mogg\u2019s \u201cgreat gifts\u201d, he thinks his views dogmatic. \u201cFor Jacob, this is absolutely everything\u2026 [he] comes from a part of the Conservative Party which is very keen on ideological purity \u2013 sort of Conservative Stalinists\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our conversation ended with a question on defence. Soames has served as both Minister of State for the Armed Forces and later as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence. Faced with a \u00a320bn black hole in the defence budget, he is sceptical that splashing out on two new aircraft carriers (one of which is sailing towards America where fighter jets will land on her deck for the first time) is money well spent. \u201cI\u2019ve always been agnostic on the aircraft carriers and when I was a defence minister I was never very keen\u2026 the Ministry of Defence have really not handled this at all well\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Avoiding the question of whether further military cuts are necessary to meet the shortfall, he highlights Trident as a solution. \u201cMy view is that we should take the cost of renewing Trident out of the Defence budget and put it into central budget\u2019s obligation, and allow the MoD to work its way through with the other important equipment programmes\u201d. Estimated to cost a total of \u00a331bn relative to an annual defence budget of \u00a336bn the accounting benefits to such a move are plain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He also argues spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence is insufficient to meet current commitments. \u201cOur defence situation expenditure wise is that we need to spend more money on defence, the equipment budget is not in good shape and they [the MoD] need to find a way to resolve all this. So, I\u2019m not a great fan of the way they\u2019re handling it to tell you the truth\u201d.<\/p>\n

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By Will Parker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-british","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}