Kemi Badenoch dismissed the prospect of the UK rejoining the European Union during a heated exchange on Good Morning Britain, telling presenter Paul Brand that the Conservative Party will not return to the bloc.
Appearing on the ITV programme on Thursday, October 29, the Conservative leader was asked by Brand and co-presenter Ranvir Singh for her response to John Healey's recent budget announcement. The conversation turned to Brexit after Brand raised comments by Andy Burnham, who said he would like the UK to rejoin the EU within his lifetime.
Repeated Question Sparks Clash
Brand asked: "Just returning to Brexit for a moment because Andy Burnham says that is one of the reasons why our economy is weaker, in his view. Would you ever countenance rejoining the EU?"
Badenoch quickly answered no, but Brand pressed her, asking: "Never? Can I be clear, though, never?" She replied: "We are not going back into the EU. I cannot believe that we're even having this discussion."
The presenter continued to question whether she was completely ruling out rejoining, prompting Badenoch to say: "I have been really clear, you're asking me to repeat myself. I've already been clear."
Focus on Domestic Issues
She added: "The fact is, we had lots of people say, 'Once we leave the EU, all the problems will be solved'. We're doing it again, 'Once we join the EU, everything will be fine'. We have problems that we can fix now. We can do a lot. We need to cut our welfare budget. We don't need to join the EU to do those things. There's a lot that we can do."
Badenoch also said: "What we see is politicians that don't have any answers start talking about, 'Let's join, let's leave, let's join' as if that's going to fix this."
Despite her responses, Brand asked once more whether she would admit to "never ever" rejoining the EU. Badenoch replied: "I literally said it, Paul, I literally said it. We are not going back into the EU. I know you're looking for..."
Brand spoke over her, saying he wanted to know what she believed on the matter. She responded: "I wasn't an MP when we left the European Union, I know what you're trying to do, but the fact is your viewers are out there, they're watching and thinking, 'How am I going to pay my energy bills, am I going to get a job?'"
She described the conversation about rejoining the EU started by Andy Burnham as "completely ridiculous," adding: "It is a waste of time, he thinks it's going to be helpful because all he cares about is an election."
Good Morning Britain continues weekdays on ITV from 6am.
