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Feb. 3, 2023 - Uncensored - Piers Morgan
47:23
20230203_piers-morgan-uncensored-piers-and-the-pm-exclusive
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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Sunak's Turbulent Hundred Days 00:13:13
Tonight on Piers Morgan uncensored.
It was 100 days ago that Rishi Sunak stood on these very steps outside number 10 Downing Street and became Britain's third Prime Minister in a year.
He inherited a hell of a mess.
So how has he done?
I'm about to go behind those doors and ask him in his only interview on this auspicious occasion.
Good evening and welcome to a special edition of Piers Morgan Uncensored here from number 10 Downing Street.
It was 100 days ago that Rishi Sunak stood on these steps and announced himself to the country as our third Prime Minister in less than a year.
He inherited a hell of a mess.
Let's be honest, Liz Truss had driven us into an iceberg.
The economy was tanking, the pound was collapsing.
We were a global laughingstock.
Rishi Sunak's challenge was to try and get things back on some kind of even keel.
But he also had to deal with a cost of living crisis that was almost unprecedented, with a war raging in Ukraine, with his own side split in two, with ex-prime ministers on manoeuvres, with the royals in chaos as well with a new monarch.
All in all, it added up to one hell of a mess and one hell of a baptism of fire.
So how has he got on?
Well on his 100th day in office, I spent nearly an hour with the Prime Minister asking him a lot of questions.
Is it time to put the periscope up and unleash a little torpedo to remind Boris who the actual Prime Minister is?
What is Sunakism?
What is the doctrine you have for leadership of this country?
What is a woman?
Was your proposal romantic?
Ben didn't he?
You are a little romantic.
Yes.
Are Arshall going to win the league?
Well, change the subject.
It's not fair and right, is it?
Should King Charles invite Meghan and Harry to the coronation?
I had a feeling you might ask me that.
We all know Rishi Sunak's name and we all know he's our Prime Minister.
But do we really feel we know him as a man?
I'm not sure we do.
So one of my challenges in the interview was to try and peel back this slick layer that he always seems to have and find out who the actual person is behind all that.
Who is Rishi Sunak?
Where has he come from?
What are his values?
What drives him?
What does he want Britain to be?
These are all big questions for our Prime Minister in these turbulent times and the answers matter.
But first, let's take a look back as to how he got to become Prime Minister in the first place.
It is clearly now the will of the Parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new Prime Minister.
Liz, we have to be honest.
We have to be honest.
But borrowing your way out of inflation isn't a plan.
It's a fairy tale.
Liz Truss is elected as the leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party.
I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy.
The government was saying, oh, this is great news.
A vote of confidence and markets.
And then down, I am a fighter and not a fighter.
I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning.
Rishi Sunak is therefore elected as leader of the Conservative Party.
So here we go then.
PM and the PM, an exclusive interview on his 100th day in office.
Let's see what he has to say for himself.
Prime Minister, thank you very much for inviting me into your lair here, the number 10 kitchen.
Very welcome.
Boris Johnston repeatedly promised me an interview at Downing Street and eventually ran into a fridge to hide from me to avoid having to fulfill his pledge.
Your fridge is over there.
Can you at least give me a guarantee that in the next 35 minutes, you're not going to run into that fridge?
I can give you that guarantee, although if you get hungry halfway through, we can raid it for some snacks.
It's 100 days today.
Two Liz trusses.
or 10 lettuces we worked out because the lettuce lasted 10 days which was longer than your predecessor.
Was your first priority if you're honest simply survival given the turmoil of what had happened before?
You know actually I wasn't thinking about politics when Liz resigned at all.
I was with my kids having lunch up north in Teesside at TGI Fridays and we were finishing off lunch and about to head to take them bowling and I had somewhat moved on after everything that happened over the summer, so my head wasn't completely in that space, if I'm being completely honest.
And obviously she resigned and I had to think about what to do and ultimately I strongly believe in public service and felt, out of a sense of duty more than anything else, that I should try and come and make a difference, given it was a pretty challenging time.
Had it crossed your mind when you lost that leadership race to just get out of politics because it's a you know it's a brutal business you'd had a go at running leadership it hadn't worked.
Had it gone through your mind to just actually try something else?
Not to leave politics and I'm very devoted to my constituents at home in North Yorkshire and Richmond so I hadn't considered leaving politics altogether but I had obviously assumed that my career in frontline politics had come to an end.
We're talking four months ago.
Yeah no that's what I said my head four months with your kids you're thinking well I'll never work in a cabinet again.
Yeah that's what that's what I was assuming.
And now you're in number 10.
We're in your flag.
You're the boss.
You're the prime minister.
It's a little bit.
Yeah it was look it was not what I was expecting.
I knew when I resigned when I resigned as chancellor I said at the time that was probably I knew that would be the last I resigned thinking and believing that would probably then be the last senior job I had in politics.
That's what I thought I was doing and not to leave politics altogether but as you said I didn't expect to be in cabinet or serve in a position like this again.
So yeah, it came it.
The whole thing came as a pretty big surprise but, as I said look, the country was in a difficult spot and you think I couldn't.
You said in 2020, when asked if you were after the top job God no, definitely not, seeing what the prime minister has to deal with.
And then, a year later, you run for that job at a time when the economy is tanking, the party's cratering in the polls, there was a raging war in Europe, the worst cost of living crisis in a lifetime, the remnants of this terrible pandemic it's pretty much the worst imaginable hospital pass any incoming prime Prime Minister could ever wish to receive, which begs the question, what on earth did you want to do this for?
Yeah, well, thanks for reminding me.
First of all, that long list.
And look, you're right, there's no point sugarcoating it.
It's not an easy situation.
And, you know, I do ask myself the same question on occasion.
You know, I go to what I said before.
For me, it's about duty.
And actually, there's a concept in Hinduism called Paramount, which roughly translates into duty.
And that's how I was raised.
It was about doing the things that were expected of you and trying to do the right thing.
And even though it was going to be a nightmare job for all the reasons that you outlined, I felt that I could make a difference and I was the best person to make a difference at that moment, especially given the challenges that people were facing and what they were seeing with their mortgages.
And that's ultimately why I put myself forward to do it.
And knowing that it would be difficult and challenging, but ultimately doing what I thought was my duty in that situation, because I believe deeply in service and thought I could make a difference to the country.
When I interviewed Tony Blair when he was Prime Minister here at Downing Street, he had a singing fish on the wall called Billy Bash, Bass, I think it was, that used to sing if you pressed a button, don't worry, be happy.
Do you have anything like that?
And what is your mantra for the nation of Parliament?
No, I have my wife, but she doesn't sing, don't worry, be happy.
And we do like Bob Marley.
What's the right mantra right now for the public?
So many people are suffering.
So many people are worrying.
What is your message to them?
It's have hope.
Have hope because I can make it better and I will make it better.
And that's what I said.
And that's what I'm working day and night to do.
That's why I put myself forward for this.
And that's why at the beginning of the year, I set out for the country the five things I wanted to do for them, which are quite straightforward in one sense.
The problem you have, I've seen the five pledges, we've discussed those, there's a new poll out today, YouGov, Times, Times Radio, that says pretty much on almost every metric that three quarters of the public do not think you're delivering on any of the things you're now pledging to fix.
Three quarters don't think you're going to be Prime Minister after the next election.
These are pretty heavy stats against you.
You haven't got that much time to turn this around.
You've got 500 days or so maximum.
Can you do it?
Have you got enough time to implement these changes and actually see change be affected?
Yes, I wholeheartedly believe that and I'm giving absolutely everything I've got.
And of course people might not feel that today and for all the reasons that you set out earlier, the situation is tough, but I want people to have confidence that it will get better.
So if you go through those things I said, halve inflation, yes, I believe by the end of the year we can halve inflation.
Grow the economy, yes, I do believe over the course of this year we'll get the economy growing again.
Reduce debt.
We've already made some difficult decisions to ensure that that happens, but we've got to stick to the path.
And then cutting waiting lists.
I was just in a hospital earlier this week talking about our plans to bring down waiting times in the NHS, which I know we can deliver on.
We're working with the NHS to do that.
And stopping the boats and tackling illegal migration.
That's probably the trickiest of all of them.
But again, it's something that I care very deeply about.
And by the end of the year, when hopefully we can come back and do this again, and you can give me my report card on those five things, I am confident that we will have delivered on them.
And the country at that point will be able to say, hang on, this guy said he was going to do these things, and he's done them.
And that's what I want to be judged by.
Because I think politicians say lots of things and the country is probably quite frankly sick and tired of it, right?
What they want is someone to just do the things that they say and that's what I'm going to do.
Political words are cheap, right?
I mean, anyone can sit as prime minister and say to me, I'm going to fix everything.
The proof will be literally in the buddhi right and I will set you up on that.
I will come back.
Yeah, because people want to see actual delivery.
They do I.
I believe that and that's why, you know, actually i'll get you talk about those five things.
In all that polling, other people say, oh gosh, that's not ambitious enough at all, and where's the grand vision and all the rest of it?
And what i'd say to them is, these are the things that matter most to the country.
Do you have a doctrine?
I mean, people are struggling to see what your.
What is Sunakism?
What is the doctrine you have for leadership of this country?
Well, first of all, it's about making sure that people can feel proud of the Uk, proud of our country, and that they have peace of mind that things are going to be better for their children and grandchildren.
Now, that's what i'm driven to deliver and right now, what does that mean?
It means delivering on those five things, because that's how we're going to do that.
That's how we're going to make sure people do have peace of mind that things will be better for their children, for their grandchildren.
That is how we will make sure people feel proud of our country and that's why those five things are the most important things to focus on.
How would you assess your first hundred days?
Yeah, i'm well, as you said, I came in and it was a challenging situation, but i'm proud of what we've achieved.
I'm proud, and what have you achieved?
If you, if you look at some of the things that we've done in that relatively short space of time.
First and most importantly is taking action to stabilize the economy, and you you mentioned it earlier about the situation that the country faced in the autumn last year, and it was.
It was pretty stark, right.
People were absolutely terrified about what was going to happen to their mortgages, what was going on, and we came in.
I came in and we took pretty decisive action in the autumn statement last year to put in place an economic plan that brought borrowing into under control, calmed the markets down, made sure that the increase in interest rates is is going to be far less than people had feared and that's going to make an enormous difference to millions of people's lives.
More extraordinary revelations from our prime minister, is Rwanda ever going to happen?
Nurses, Pay, and Systemic Crisis 00:14:59
Welcome back to this special edition of Piers Morgan uncensored, from Number 10, Downing Street.
But many people would say, all right yes, the pound dollar rate, for example, is back up to a much higher level, and so on.
There's merit to what you've just said, but they would say, for example, your pledge about the boats, the small boats coming over.
They'd say, not only have you not delivered, this situation is just seems to be getting worse all the time, and one of the key things that Brexit was supposed to be getting control of our borders it seems to be completely out of control.
What are you actually going to do about that, for example?
Yeah, so let's take a step back first of all.
Why is that?
Why is that issue important to me?
Because it it is, and it's a thing I spent an enormous amount of time on it, because ultimately, for me, it comes down to fairness, and fairness really matters to me, and I don't think the current situation is fair.
Right, people coming here illegally.
It's not fair on those who are working hard, paying taxes, relying on public services.
It's not fair on those who migrate here legally and follow all the rules, and it's actually not fair on those who desperately need our help from around the world and we're not In a position to be able to help them because of what's happening.
So, for all those reasons, we need to fix this.
And for me, you know, what I hear when someone says, well, you know, someone comes here and claims asylum illegally, they come here illegally and claim an asylum.
I hear that, I said, that's wrong, right?
When I hear that someone has paid thousands of pounds to come here and exploit our world-leading modern slavery laws, that's wrong.
Or when I hear that someone's trying to, you know, game the system, whether it's human rights or exploit our compassion, and frustrate their removal to a safe place like Albania or Rwanda, that's wrong.
So we have to fix all those things.
The system that we need, the system that I want to introduce, is one whereby if you come here illegally, you should be swiftly detained.
And then in a matter of days or weeks, we will hear your claim, not months and years, and then we will safely remove you somewhere else.
And if we do that, that's how we'll break the cycle.
Because if all these smugglers, if they see that that happens.
I understand.
But I have heard this a lot, Prime Minister.
So my question is, what are we doing?
What are we tangibly going to do to enforce this and make it happen?
So look, in the first hundred days, what have we done?
What have I done?
A, I've got a new deal with France, which is increasing the amount of patrols that are happening on French beaches, which is making a difference already.
Secondly, I've got a brand new deal with Albania.
Albania accounted for 30% of all the illegal migrants.
Of course, that's ridiculous.
But I've worked with the Albanians to put in place a new deal, which means for people coming from Albania illegally, we will be able to remove them safely back to Albania.
And that is already happening.
We're putting illegal migrants from Albania back on flights and that will ratchet up over the year.
And that's tangible improvement in the situation.
That deal is a new deal.
And then we're wholesale changing how our asylum system works in the UK to make sure that we process things far quicker and more efficiently.
We've got more enforcement of people who are working illegally.
But the key thing we need to do is introduce new laws.
And very soon we'll be introducing new laws into Parliament which deliver the system that I explained.
The system which says if you come here illegally, you're not really going to be able to stay here.
Give me the simple explanation of what this new law will look like.
So what that law will say is if you come here illegally, if you're an illegal migrant here, then you will not be able to stay here.
And in fact, we will be able to detain you.
And then we will hear your claim in a matter of days or weeks, not months or years, and we will have the ability in the vast majority of cases to send you to an alternative safe country.
Be that be where you've come from, if it's safe, like Albania or indeed Rwanda.
That is the system that we're going to be able to do.
Is Rwanda ever going to happen?
Yes, I mean we're working our way through the courts with that.
And of course there are going to be people who try and frustrate this.
But that is a system that I think the vast majority of people watching will say, that sounds reasonable.
How do you couple it with humanity?
How do you work out who are genuine asylum seekers, who actually want our help because they're desperate, perhaps from a war-torn country, from a war that we were involved in?
So there's a couple of things.
A, you're absolutely right, but that is the bit that we have to get right, because we're always going to be a compassionate country.
It's something that we're all very proud of.
And that's why drafting the law is not straightforward and we're taking the time to get it absolutely right so that we can capture those genuine cases, which of course we want to.
But the other thing is this.
As we've demonstrated over the past year or two, when we need to open up our hearts and our homes in this country to those fleeing persecution, whether it's Afghanistan, Syria, Hong Kong, Ukraine, we do.
And that's what being British is all about.
But it needs to be done on our terms.
So what I think actually is once we've got a grip of this system and we've largely stopped the flow of illegal migrants, we can have a much more sensible conversation as a country in saying, well, who do we want to take?
From where and how many?
What's our ability to help these people?
And actually have that conversation proactively and work with the Red Cross and the UN and others to do that.
But first we've got to stop the illegal migration.
Have you told your Home Secretary to dial down her rhetoric, which many people think has been overly inflammatory and degrading in some cases about migrants?
Well, I think, look, people are frustrated with this situation.
I'm frustrated with the situation, but the right way to deal with it is to do the things that I'm saying, and that's required some hard work to get.
But on language specifically?
Well, on language, look, we should always remember that we're a compassionate country.
And we've demonstrated that, as I said, with Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine.
We're a compassionate country.
You're reminding your Home Secretary of that.
She believes that.
Everyone believes that in the government and we've demonstrated that as a country.
Those are our values.
But we're not a soft touch.
We are not a soft touch.
We believe in playing by the rules.
We believe in fairness as well.
That is also equally British.
And we need a system that delivers that.
And that's the bit that we're going to fix.
Talk about fairness.
A lot of strikes going on at the moment.
You're being very resolute as things stand in standing up to the unions.
It's not proving very popular with the public.
Again, three-quarters think the unions have got the edge in this at the moment.
I want to talk specifically about nurses, mainly because your father was an NHS GP.
Your mother ran the family pharmacy.
You're a person who grew up around the health system, around healthcare.
It must burn in your soul.
Nurses, we were told to go out and applaud every Thursday in the pandemic.
Many of them died in the pandemic, risking their lives to save people's lives.
They to me should be made an exception.
And yet you've barely negotiated with the nursing unions.
Do you not feel this duty that you talked about to actually take care of nurses and say, actually, we do have to make some exceptions.
And at top of my list, my priority is going to be nurses and give them a proper pay rise.
You know, you're right, nurses should be an exception.
And that's because they do an incredible job for all of us.
And they demonstrated that during the pandemic.
And I'm really grateful to them for that.
And you're right, I grew up in an NHS family.
So this does burn deeply inside of me because I know how important great healthcare is for people and including my own family.
And we did treat them as an exception.
People forget that actually during COVID, when I was Chancellor, we instituted a public sector pay freeze because actually wages for most people were going down.
And what we decided in that context, given everything going on, that there should be a pay freeze across the entire public sector.
So everyone working in the public sector didn't see their wages rise during COVID, given the economic situation.
But you know what?
There was one exception to all of that.
It was people working in the NHS.
Yeah, but it's nurses.
I know, but it's very completely dwarfed, as you know, by inflation.
But hang on, no, but your principle, though, that we should treat is one that I agree with.
And it's one that I've actually delivered when I was Chancellor.
Are you going to deliver again now, you're Prime Minister?
And then when we're talking about this, and I'm really glad actually to have an opportunity to talk about it.
Now, look, it's not always easy in this job because I'm focused on doing what I believe is right for the country in the long term.
And often that means doing things that maybe not always popular.
And this is a good example of that.
But let me explain why we're doing what we're doing and why I think it's important.
Look, I would love, right?
I would love to give the nurses a massive pay rise.
Who wouldn't?
Certainly would make my life easier, wouldn't it?
Of course I would love to do that if I could.
Give them one then.
So why is that tough?
Why is it tough?
It's about choices.
So right now, there's a record amount of money going into the NHS.
Record amount.
And in spite of those difficult decisions that we had to make to stabilise the economy, which were the right decisions, we found more money for the NHS and social care because I believe that was the right thing to do.
So right now, the money going to the NHS, biggest it's ever been.
But we have to put that in lots of different places.
We need to hire more doctors, more nurses.
We need more scanning equipment so we can detect cancer properly.
We need more ambulances.
We're doing all of that.
I understand, but to do that, to recruit people, you've got to make them think there's an environment that's worth working in, that they're going to be actually treated in the way that we treated them in the pandemic with all our applauding.
I mean, one specific thing that really got my goat about the nurses is in the pandemic, after a campaign which I led actually, car park charges were removed from all hospitals for nurses, right?
Because they were paying up to £1,000 each a year to park their car outside a place they were going in to save lives.
It seemed to me preposterous.
In Scotland and Wales, they don't have that charge.
But now the pandemic's over, that's come back.
And they're now facing charges again of £1,000 a year.
You can't think that's right, surely, that nurses in England have to pay £1,000 a year for the privilege of parking outside a hospital to save lives.
So actually what we've done is put in place support for trust to be able to support their staff.
Why don't you just say enough?
Well, and just continue what happened in the pandemic.
Yeah, well, because there's other things that we've done for nurses as well.
Because you're right, it's not just about pay.
There's lots of pressure.
No, that's not fair, don't you?
Well, there's other ways that we can demonstrate.
On that point, though, it's not fair, is it?
Well, everyone watching this show will get to work in lots of different ways.
I know.
But not many are actually going to actually save lives.
And they're paying £1,000 on average for the pleasure of parking outside a hospital.
It's ridiculous.
Yeah, and that's why we've put measures in place, actually, and more funding to ease the burden of hospital car parking.
Not just on employees, but also on patients who are there on a regular basis.
Actually, what's happened is a lot of these trusts have actually put the prices up.
They're now paying more the nursing staff than they were before the pandemic.
Again, I simply say, Dude, that's not fair, is it?
It's not right.
Well, here are some of the other things we're doing, right?
Because again, this is not a problem.
Don't change the subject.
On that, it's not fair and right, is it?
Well, let me tell you some of the other things we're doing.
I know you don't think it is.
Well, look, of course, would I love it if people had to pay less to get to work?
Of course I would, right?
And of course, I'd love that for everybody.
Why are nurses in Scotland and Wales valued more?
Why don't they have to pay the parking?
Well, that's not quite fair.
That's not quite fair.
The nurses were also...
They don't have to pay for parking.
Nurses were also on strike in Wales.
They don't have to pay for parking.
They also pay higher taxes.
A typical nurse in Scotland pays.
Well, you're at nurses and they can't do that.
Will you at least look at that?
Of course I'm happy to look at that, right?
Of course.
I think you should.
I think it's a big deal for a lot of you.
But it's really important.
So here are some of the other things that we've done.
And then I want to get onto the point on pay.
So you're right, because there's lots of other ways we can value people.
We've reinstituted nurses' bursaries.
So if you're training to be a nurse, £5,000 a year bursary.
That's not available for people studying other subjects.
That's because we care about nurses in particular.
You ask they should be treated differently.
They are.
That's very generous.
Something else the union asked us for a year before last was when nurses qualify, we want to keep supporting because they want to keep learning new skills so they can help more patients.
We said, great, we'll support that.
£1,000 of a training budget for every newly qualified.
But here's the problem.
So let's get on to pay, though.
So I just want to say that.
Here's what you're not mentioning in this context, which is raging inflation means that all this stuff has been completely dwarfed.
So you know as well as I do that nurses are actually out of pocket despite all this.
They're massively out of pocket because of inflation.
And I think that if a country is told to go out and applaud these people every Thursday for risking their lives in a pandemic and our reward is to kick them in the teeth the moment it's over, I don't think it's fair.
So I don't think that's a fair characterisation of it.
I don't think that's a fair characterisation of it at all.
But this is really important.
So give me a second to explain.
Give me a second to explain.
So nurses are getting a pay rise.
They're getting a pay rise of about 5% and much higher actually for lower paid nurses.
So that is happening.
And it goes back to the question of there are all these other things that we need to do in the NHS as well.
We need more nurses.
We need more activities.
We need more scanners.
No, no, no.
The other thing is about, so look, I don't think anyone watching this show would, you as well, would say, okay, great, we need to put up everyone's taxes to pay for that because the money has to come from somewhere, doesn't it?
Right?
I don't think that's what everyone is saying.
The other thing is, you're right.
The thing that is making life difficult for nurses and for everyone else is inflation.
It's the bills that are going up and up and up.
We've got to tackle inflation.
That's why it's the first of my five priorities.
And unfortunately, in a situation where you've got high inflation, if lots and lots of people get very large pay settlements, it makes the inflation problem worse and lasts longer.
And that is not going to help anybody, including nurses.
And that's why, even if it's not popular, it's the right thing for the country to stay the course.
You pledged to clean up British politics and rebuild trust through integrity and accountability.
But you appointed Suella Braverman as Home Secretary six days after she quit over security breaches, appointed Gavin Williamson to your cabinet, despite him being fired twice before by your predecessors.
Then you had to get rid of him almost immediately over a bullying scandal.
You just had to fire your party chairman Nadeem Zahawi over a tax scandal.
And your Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab is facing serious mass bullying allegations.
That's just in four months, Prime Minister.
People are saying, what is going on here?
How does this live up to trust through integrity and accountability?
It just looks like more of the same.
Well, actually, people can judge me on how I've dealt with these situations as they've arisen, right?
In most cases that you mentioned, you're talking about things that happened day before I was Prime Minister.
But as they've arisen on my watch, I've actually worked in a way that I believe to be professional, in a way that I believe does restore integrity back into the process.
Are you comfortable about Dominic Raab staying in his job at the moment and not being suspended pending resolution of this investigation?
Yes, because I believe in due process.
I believe people should have a fair hearing and that's why we have an independent advisor.
And I think as people saw at the weekend, that independent advisor who I'd asked to look into the Nadeem Zahawi situation looked at it quickly, didn't pull any punches when he wrote his report.
And immediately after I received that report, I acted decisively to remove Nadeem Zahawi from government because there had been a serious breach in the ministerial code.
Strategy Shifts on Jets 00:06:00
He had to go over tax.
A lot of people have asked questions about your wealth.
You know that.
You're a very wealthy man.
I don't hold that against you.
You've been very successful in business.
You've said that you'll release your tax returns, but we haven't seen them yet.
When are you going to do that?
How far back are you going to go?
Would it not be, if you're going to be transparent about this, go back to when you first became an MP and say, right, here you are, here's eight years of my tax returns.
So I will be transparent.
They will go back.
They generally, there's a precedent for these things.
So one would assume for all MPs, we don't tend to do that.
This is something that we restrict who have been prime ministers or chancellors or mayors in the past.
They will be published shortly.
The tax debt, as you know, the tax filing deadline was just a few days ago.
So that's why.
So the tax filing deadline's just passed, so they're just being prepared and they will be released.
Can you ask one specific about it?
A lot of people have been suggesting that you may have benefited some way financially from pharmaceutical companies during the pandemic, either through a blind trust or otherwise.
Can you clear that up?
Have you made any personal financial gain from pharmaceutical companies and in particular from Moderna, who of course made a lot of money from the vaccine?
So all my disclosures are done through the cabinet office and what you'll see if you read the statement that they put out is that my investments are in what's called a blind management arrangement so I don't actually have any knowledge of what is in there and that's how that works.
So you could have made...
I'm not, the whole point about something that's truly blind is that it's blind for me.
Do you think it's right that a prime minister should have blind trust?
I think that's better than them having control over them.
Clearly, that is the long-established process for how these things work.
Because the point is, if they're blind, I'm not able to direct or control what's going on.
But we will see the returns.
The tax returns, yes, you will see the return.
I committed to doing it and they will be done.
But we just finished the tax filing deadline at the end of January, so they just need to be then prepared and they'll be released soon.
Well, welcome back.
You're watching a special edition of Piers Morgan Uncensored from number 10 Downing Street.
Ukraine, Boris Johnson, one of your two recent predecessors, has been on manoeuvres around the world, meeting President Zelensky, meeting Senate leaders in America, almost acting like he's still Prime Minister.
Nadine Doris's interview in Fatalk TV for Tomorrow Night, in which she says that you're a submarine prime minister.
Is it time to put the periscope up and unleash a little torpedo to remind Boris who the actual prime minister is?
No, look, it's great that we've got former prime ministers and I speak to all our former leaders actually.
But should he be doing what he's doing?
I think all of our leaders have a way of continuing to contribute to public life and that's a good thing.
That's not a bad thing actually.
They've got experience that they want to share.
You have no problem with what Boris is doing.
Oh gosh, as I say, we've got a long list of previous prime ministers and the fact that they still want to contribute.
But he's all over life.
He's all over American television saying we need to send jets to Ukraine.
So on Ukraine in particular, actually when you talk about what else we've done in the 100 days, that's one of the other things that I'm proud that I've been able to achieve and that is to shift our strategy on Ukraine as Prime Minister to a more proactive strategy.
Will you send jets?
And so, look, we are always talking to the Ukrainians about the right support.
So they want jets.
Boris Johnson says he should send jets.
When the Defence Minister says he's not going to rule it out, you're the Prime Minister.
It's going to be your call.
Yes, so should we send jets?
So the issue is, what is the support that we can provide that we think will make the most difference?
And that's why a decision I took as Prime Minister was to be one of the first countries in the world to provide heavy tanks to Ukraine.
And we were then followed by other countries.
But I'm just talking specifically about jets.
Yes, but as I said, we are always in a dialogue.
You don't rule that out?
No, we're always in a dialogue with our Ukrainian friends about what the right way to support them is.
The thing to bear in mind with jets, though, remember, these are incredibly sophisticated pieces of equipment that require months, if not years, for people to be trained on.
But you don't rule anything out.
Our desire and goal is for Ukraine to win this conflict.
And to give them what they need to do.
And we want to make sure that it's not about giving them necessarily just giving them what they need.
We need to make sure that they can use what they are given.
And that's actually with tanks, people are saying, well, why am I not seeing them tomorrow?
It's because we also need to make sure that they're trained to use the tanks.
And that work is ongoing at the moment.
So it's not just the equipment, it's also the capabilities and the training that come alongside that.
Together with a plan with our allies that will ensure that they can be victorious.
And that's the strategy that I've shifted as Prime Minister.
And it's something I'm proud we've done in 100 days.
And I know something that President Zelensky and the Ukrainians are deeply grateful to us for.
Okay, we share a love of cricket.
And I would say, I don't mean this as an insult, Prime Minister, but when it comes to your wife, you're batting above your average.
Would you agree?
Yes, 100%.
Akshato, now, you said in the Times, and I wasn't sure where this interview got you into trouble, but you said that you're tidy, she's messy, you're organised, she's not.
You're teetotal, she likes a drink.
Was it opposites attract?
Well, you'd have to ask her.
But yes, I definitely am batting above my average, and I did get in a lot of trouble for that interview, so I should just reassert that I did it.
Those things were taken, I think, a little bit in a more extreme way than I meant them.
Apparently you like rom-coms?
I do, yes.
I love actually like kind of thing.
All that kind of thing.
So you're a romantic guy?
Yeah, I'd like to think so.
You're probably better off to ask her rather than.
Was your proposal romantic?
I'd think so.
She said yes, so it had the decided effect.
Can we have a bit of...
Yes, we got engaged in a place called Half Moon Bay and it was a place that when we were students together, we met when we were studying together in the States and we used to walk in this area and look up at this nice fancy hotel that we never could stay in and then I surprised her and we did go and stay there but before that we went for a walk along the cliffs and we were alone and that's why I proposed.
Defending Biological Sex Identity 00:04:15
Ben didn't he?
Of course.
Really?
Yes.
So you are a little romantic.
Yes, well.
What does love mean to you?
Love, what does love mean?
Well, I mean it I mean there's there's lots of different aspects to it and the bit that is the bit that I'm probably most focused on at the moment and the bit that means the most to me at the moment is the support that she gives me doing this job.
Well they say behind every great man is a greater woman.
Yeah and in my case that is definitely true and it has been particularly true over the past couple of months and the past couple of years.
I wouldn't be able to do this job without her love and support.
As you said, you said what's your mantra or what's my equivalent of the singing fish doing Bob Marley?
It's Acha, right?
And that's what I get every day that gives me the extra support to keep going when things are tough.
That comes from her.
So that's what I mean.
You were very supportive of women in the Commons yesterday in relation to Rosie Duffield and the problem she's had with Keir Starmer.
The world's most controversial question bizarrely has become, what is a woman?
We know that Nicola Sturgeon can't answer that.
We know Keir Starmer can't answer that.
You're the British Prime Minister.
What is a woman?
Yeah, of course I know what woman is an adult human female.
And what you're actually though asking when you ask that question is, I think, you know, what's my approach in view about how we as a society grapple with a situation where people are questioning and wanting to change their gender, their identity.
We've just had this shocking case in Scotland where a male rapist who raped two women before he comes to trial suddenly decides to transition to be supposedly a woman.
He gets convicted as a woman and then gets sent first of all to a woman's prison where there will be other women for him to attack.
And his ex-wife says, well, this is ridiculous.
He's just doing this because he wants the soft option of being in a women's prison.
He's now been sent back to a male prison and therefore we have to assume has now been categorised as male.
But this shows the problem of limitless gender self-identity.
This is where it takes us.
I completely agree.
It absolutely does show some of the challenges with this.
Now look, first of all, we must and should have enormous compassion and tolerance and understanding for those who are questioning their gender and identity and wanting to change.
And we will always be supportive of that.
Of course we will.
And it's right to be compassionate about that.
That's who we are as a people.
But we have to recognize the challenges that that poses, particularly for women's safety as we've just seen.
When you see this, that's why biological sex really matters in.
Yeah, I mean, to me, it's immutable.
That's what it is.
It's biological sex.
When you see what's happening in sport, where you see trans women athletes demolishing women, female athletes, what do you feel about that?
Well, I think that doesn't strike most people as being fair, right?
And so that's why when it comes to these questions, biological sex matters, now that, you know, we can and will have compassion and tolerance and understanding for everybody who is thinking about transitioning and changing their identity and gender.
But for me, when it comes to whether it's sex, whether it's women's spaces, whether it's prisons, biological sex really matters.
And actually, we saw that recently with what's going on in Scotland.
And that's why I took, again, you say, what else have you done in 100 days?
And what's bold?
We took action that hasn't been.
I thought you were completely right.
Because the bill that was passed in Scotland, I think, has real implications for how we think about these issues on a UK-wide basis and the interaction between these things.
I think on this you're completely right.
I'm glad you've acted.
I'm glad you've said what a woman is because other people will be thinking, why can't we say what a woman is?
I mean, yes.
And look, I'm married to one, I have two daughters.
And it's really important that they grow up in a society way where their needs are respected, whether it's how they want to be treated when they're in changing rooms or sports, but also their safety.
And the other thing I've spoken about is women walking around in the evenings should and deserve to feel safe.
Yes.
And they should be and deserve to feel safe.
And we haven't done a good enough job of that in the past.
And we're working really hard to improve things, but it's something that I hope I can achieve as Prime Minister that women do feel that, because that's what we all owe them.
Star Wars and Farming Values 00:08:55
What's the biggest frustration for you about how people view you?
A lot of people think you're a bit of a nerd.
You know, you're a Dolman Sachs guy, you've been high flyer all your life.
You're a bit of a geek.
I don't think you are, from what I've been told by people who know you well.
You know, apparently you rap to Ice Eyes Baby by vanilla ice.
Is that true?
That is true.
Yes, we will not do that now.
And you keep Star Wars lightsabers?
I'm a big Star Wars fan.
Do you keep them in Danish room?
I don't know if we have one actually down in the kids' room.
We might, but yes, I'm a big Star Wars fan.
What force do you feel is with you?
Well, I hope the force is with me.
Yeah, you need to be.
What is the force?
What is the force?
Well, you're not a Star Wars fan?
I hate it.
Oh, God, we haven't got time for that in this interview.
We'll have a whole separate Star Wars interview.
Have you not watched any Star Wars?
No, no.
Okay, fine.
Well, when we're watching some football, when we're watching our football, we'll talk Star Wars on the side of the board.
I think grown men running around waving lightsabers is ridiculous.
Well, I have children, so I get permission to play Star Wars Lego and lightsabers.
Are you still a Coke addict?
Yes, but one a week.
One a week.
One a week.
So I mean, I'm really.
But a proper coke, not a dialogue.
And I have this special thing for a particular type of Coke, which is in the fridge somewhere.
And you're a Penetrant guy?
I am.
I am too, but you go with Cody, right?
I do.
I'm an Olivia.
Oh, really?
Okay, I'll try that.
Cody's good.
That's another way.
It cheers you up, gets you going.
I've got to wrap this up.
No, you're asking actually about that.
About your character.
Yeah, no, about that geek thing.
And I was, I mean, as you said it, I was reflecting on it.
Look, what does that mean?
You know, to me, if that means somebody who is getting up early, who's working hard, who's on top of things, who's trying to actually solve problems and be diligent about that and throw themselves at it and give absolutely everything that they've got day and night to try and do it, then sure, that is who I am.
I'm not going to run away from that.
And quite frankly, I think that's what the Prime Minister should be.
I think that's what the country deserves.
And we've got some challenges and we're not going to solve them unless the person doing this job is like that, in my view.
I have one concern about this.
You don't drink.
You just hate the taste of alcohol, right?
Yes.
You've never smoked?
No.
Never taken drugs.
You're stinking rich.
Right?
Well, it's a matter of degree.
I think most people would consider that I am financially fortunate, yes.
And you got a degree from a US university.
And a British one as well.
Right.
But my point about the first five things I said is that the only other world lead I've interviewed who ticked all those same boxes was Donald Trump.
Should we be concerned, Prime Minister?
Is this a trait that we should be worried about?
Gosh, I think of all the people people would have compared me to, that is not one that I would have imagined.
But look, look, on those things, I guess, you know, so what are people, am I frustrated and all the rest of it?
Look, I think what people need to understand is what my values are.
I think that's the most important.
What are they?
And that's how I was brought up, right?
And I was brought up by, you know, parents who emigrated to this country and they came with an immigrant mindset whereby what they were focused on was working as humanly hard as possible and sacrificing everything so that their kids could have a better future and that we could fit in and integrate into British life well.
And that's what I was raised.
I was raised to work incredibly hard to do the right thing to look after people who are less fortunate than yourselves because that's what my parents were doing.
And those are the values that I bring to this job.
Now, yes, am I financially lucky today?
I am.
Yeah, that is a result of all the sales.
I mean, by most people would consider that I am very happy.
I mean, in the spirit of transparency, can you give us a...
I don't think we...
Are you a billionaire?
No, I'm not going to get into that.
But the point that, you know, does that...
What matters about that is not how much is in my bank account.
What matters are my values and what matters are the actions I take for the country.
And you know what?
I had the same bank account when I was Chancellor.
So when I stood up in that first press conference where no one knew who I was and I talked about what we were going to do and I talked about furlough, right, no one asked me then, oh, well, how much money is in your bank account?
No one cared, right?
So if it didn't matter then, it shouldn't matter now.
But the first tax cut I ever did as chancellor was a tax cut for the lowest paid.
It was those on universal credit.
Because I wanted to make it easier for people who were moving off welfare and wanted to move into a job.
I wanted them to be able to keep more of their money because I thought that was a really good thing.
I believe really strongly in hard work.
I think hard work is something that we should reward.
How much is a pint of milk?
90p.
But you know what?
That's good.
Do you know what?
When people ask me that question, do you know what I instinctively think of?
I think of the price of milk that my farmers get.
Because I represent a very rural constituency in North Yorkshire.
My neighbour is a dairy farmer.
And when I first became an MP, the dairy industry was in a really tough way.
You used to get farmers in my patch, they were getting paid 20 pence a litre wholesale for their milk.
And right now, they're going to get a record high.
It's about 50 pence a litre.
So I don't get too many complaints from my dairy farmers in Yorkshire about milk prices.
So that's what I think of.
And that's the other thing that made a big impact on me.
The big thing that impacted my life was being a member of parliament for an amazing part of the country.
It changed who I am.
It's rural.
It's in the north.
It's where we've made a home and people have welcomed us.
And again, I bring those values to this job too.
I want to end with three yes or no's.
Right.
And then that's it.
Then you're out of this.
Right.
First one.
Should King Charles invite Meghan and Harry to the coronation?
You're going to be there?
I had a feeling you might ask me that.
So look, you know I can't talk about the royal family.
But what I can say is one of the great privileges of this job is spending time with the monarch and also championing what is an amazing British institution.
Should people who keep trashing the Royal Family and Monarchy just shut up?
Look, I said it's one of the proudest parts of my job is to go around the world and champion and celebrate British institutions like the Royal Family.
Australians have just taken all the royals off their stamps.
Yeah, but you know what?
There's an enormous amount of affection for the royal family everywhere I go around the world and they do an incredible job.
King Charles does an incredible job.
We're lucky to have him.
The coronation is going to be superb and we're going to have a great time.
And you don't mind if you're next to Megan and Harrow?
Again, what I'm focused on is making sure we have a great time as a country and that is what I'm confident is going to happen.
Are we going to win the ashes, England?
Yes.
Are Arsenal going to win the league?
Yes.
Are Southampton going to get relegated?
No.
No, definitely not.
Well, actually, if you could spare us the points when we play you, that would be okay.
Actually, that's one of the, actually you say, where did you get your motivation from?
So growing up and being a Southampton fan in the 90s, as my formative teenage years, we stayed up most seasons on the last game of the season.
One time on goal difference, which we've called the great escape.
So I'm quite comfortable with things being tough, but you know what, in the end, you can pull it out of the bag.
And that's a little bit like this job at the moment.
Things are tough, but I'm confident that they'll get better and we'll be successful.
You've got one of the toughest jobs I can imagine.
I've interviewed many British prime ministers over the years.
This is a really tough job you're in.
But I like the ambition you have.
And I like the fact you're prepared for me to come back at the end of the year and see how you got on and be judged on performance.
Because I think what the British public want right now is action and results and less of the chat, even though we've just had a good chat.
We have had a good chat.
We didn't need to raid the fridge, which is a good thing.
And you haven't run into it.
And I haven't run into it.
And we will go celebrate with the Coke afterwards.
But it's been great to spend some time with you.
And I agree with you.
I think that is what the country wants.
And my job is to deliver for them.
And if I don't do it, then fair enough.
Right.
Then I don't deserve to have people support me.
But I'm confident I can deliver for people.
And at the end of the year, we can go through that checklist and we can sit and say, well, how have you done?
And I look forward to that conversation.
Prime Minister, I wish you all the best.
I want you to succeed.
Thank you.
I think most people would like you to succeed.
We've had enough chaos, enough failings.
We need this country back on its feet and I hope you are successful.
Well, I appreciate that and I know you'll keep holding me account for doing it.
That you can absolutely rest assured.
Now go and sort the parking out for the nurse.
Right, I'm on it.
Good to see you.
Take care.
So that's it.
My exclusive interview with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the 100th day of his premiership, or as I put it at the start of the interview, two Liz Trusses already.
I don't know what you thought of him, but I felt he was more candid and open in that interview than I've ever seen him before.
I also think that he means it when he says he's determined to fix our problems.
The big question remains, can he?
Well, the clock is ticking to the next election.
If he doesn't, the electorate will be unforgiving.
But if he does, well, it may not be over yet.
That's it from Piers Morgan.
Uncensored from Downing Street tonight.
Remember, wherever you are, even if you're the Prime Minister, keep it uncensored.
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