Parliament returns this week after the summer break and so did the Sunday shows – well one of them at least. And it came back with a bang.
This morning on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, David Davis said he would vote against Theresa May’s Brexit deal, Liam Fox took a swipe at Philip Hammond’s no deal warnings, John McDonnell said Jeremy Corbyn had been “misinterpreted” over anti-Semitism as a former chief rabbi said the majority of Jews are questioning whether Britain is a safe place.
David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, used his appearance on Marr to dismiss the PM’s Chequers plan as “almost worse” than remaining a member of the European Union.
“I’d vote against it, it would be rather odd for me to resign over something and then vote for it when it came back,” he confirmed.
“In my view the Chequers proposal – it’s not a deal, we shouldn’t call it the Chequers deal, it’s the Chequers proposal, is actually almost worse than being in.”
Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, took aim at the Chancellor for predicting Brexit would damage the economy.
“Can you think back in all your time in politics where the Treasury have made predictions that were correct 15 years out, I can’t, they didn’t predict the financial crisis that happened, no-one could,” he said.
Fox, who did not quit over Chequers, added: “So this idea that we can predict what our borrowing would be 15 years in advance is just a bit hard to swallow.”
The trade secretary also refused to say -having been asked four times – he would not welcome former Ukip donor Arron Banks joining the Conservative Party.
Amid warnings from some Tory MPs of entryism from the hard right, Fox said anyone was welcome if they “were willing to believe what we believe”.
The Jewish Labour Movement held its conference in north London today – against a backdrop of deep concerns about anti-Semitism in the party.
Lord Sacks, the former chief rabbi, stepped up his criticism of Jeremy Corbyn. “Jews have been in Britain since 1656, I know of no other occasion in these 362 years when Jews – the majority of our community – are asking ‘is this country safe to bring up our children’,” he told Marr. “Now, this is very, very worrying.”
He added: “There is danger that Jeremy Corbyn may one day be prime minister, he is the leader of Her Majesty’s opposition, and I’m afraid that until he expresses clear remorse for what he has said and what his party has done to its Jewish sympathisers as well as its Jewish MPs, then he is as great a danger as Enoch Powell was.”
But John McDonnell rejected the criticism. The shadow chancellor said comparisons between Corbyn and Enoch Powell were “just wrong”.
“Jeremy has made it absolutely clear we will protect Jewish members of our party from any form of abuse and anti-Semitism,” he told Marr.
McDonnell added: “I’ll just say to Lord Sacks I just think you’ve misinterpreted what’s gone on, I think you’ve got – really have misinterpreted Jeremy. I’ve known him for over 30 years. His whole life has been devoted to anti-racism, to peace and justice. That’s the – come and meet him and you’ll understand that.”