Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge has indicated the Conservatives would back American military strikes aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.Speaking to GB News, the minister said that while such action remains speculative, the Tories would "not, in principle, be opposed to" supporting the US if it pursued this course.FULL STORY HERE.
00:00Good morning to you. It's just gone 8 o'clock. I'm Ellie Costello.
00:03And I'm Ben Leo. And this is GB News Breakfast.
00:16Well, let's get straight into it, shall we?
00:18And speak to the Shadow Defence Secretary, James Cartledge, who joins us now.
00:22Good to see you this morning, Mr Cartledge.
00:26Good morning.
00:27And our top story this morning is about President Donald Trump.
00:31We're hearing he's poised to join the war in Iran, between Israel and Iran.
00:38What's your thoughts on that? And where would that leave Britain?
00:44Well, it's obviously a very important question.
00:47And I think, you know, clearly no decision has been made.
00:51And it's not for us to really speculate on that.
00:53But nevertheless, as you rightly say, the noises from the White House do appear to imply that they are getting close to a commitment.
00:59There have been reports of capabilities being moved.
01:04I mean, obviously, some of this is also speculative.
01:06I think the key thing is, and this is our party's view, being very clear-eyed about the threat from Iran
01:12and what it would imply if they did have a nuclear capability.
01:15So we do support Israel's right to defend itself in these circumstances.
01:20And would you support the complete destruction of Iran's nuclear programme if they are close to creating a nuclear weapon?
01:27Well, certainly, Kevin, to be very clear, we don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons.
01:35And as Priti said in the Chamber on Monday, our Shadow Front Secretary, Priti Patel,
01:40the reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency are very worrying that they have a level of uranium enrichment,
01:47which is unprecedented for a non-nuclear armed state.
01:50So it can only imply one thing, as far as I can see.
01:52And if the U.S., together with Israelis, take the view that that intelligence means the only way to stop it is to take decisive military action,
02:02then that's something we would not, in principle, be opposed to.
02:05We do recognise the scale of that threat.
02:08Mr. Cotter, can I ask you, please, what your take is on the status of Iranians living in London,
02:13particularly I'm referencing the likes of a former vice-president of the Iranian regime who backed calls for the fatwa on Salman Rushdie some years ago.
02:23He's now living in a very leafy part of north London, nice life, but he's got a questionable past,
02:28not least supporting vocally the former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Chief Salami.
02:34So should these people be in London, bearing in mind their past?
02:37Well, as you know, we have our own domestic security apparatus and judicial processes for people who, you know,
02:47if there are grounds to act, then we do so.
02:52Ah, sorry.
02:54I thought someone was coming up behind me.
02:56My apologies.
02:57So we have the ability to act if there is, you know, our legal grounds to do so.
03:02I think, if I may just say about the point about the British position here and what the implications are,
03:08I think one of the most important points that can be overlooked is it wasn't very long ago that the Houthis,
03:13who are a terrorist movement supported by Iran, provided, received ballistic missiles and other weaponry from Iran,
03:21and they were used to attack our own naval ships.
03:24So this is a very serious situation from our perspective as well.
03:27That's why for us as a party, we are open-minded.
03:30I think in terms of the domestic situation, well, I can't comment on those individual cases,
03:35but I do, I'm very clear on the threat we face.
03:37That's why we understand why Israel has taken the decisive action that it has.
03:41Do you think it's time for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to be designated as a terrorist group by the UK government?
03:50I mean, that is a long-running debate, isn't it?
03:52Many people raise that point, and I understand that the Foreign Office have had their own reasoning
03:56for not wanting that to happen in terms, I think, of preserving some sort of diplomatic channel,
04:01and maybe there's a justification for that.
04:03I just think at the moment, you know, in many ways we are beyond all that, aren't we?
04:07We are in a situation where you now have kinetic strikes between Iran and Israel constantly ongoing.
04:14Clearly this is coming to a head.
04:15And I think, just to be clear to your viewers from our party's point of view, Iran is a very clear threat.
04:21And in principle, we would not rule out supporting the US if it went down this road.
04:25But at the moment, that's speculation.
04:27Let's see what happens.
04:29OK, let me ask you about the Conservative plans this morning to house army veterans.
04:34Some would say it's a long time coming.
04:36There's a general consensus that veterans in this country are neglected and discarded.
04:40Indeed, they make up a big proportion of the homeless population in this country.
04:43Just tell us, please, what you're doing.
04:45And particularly, the next Conservative government, you say,
04:49will be buying back the defence estate from Annington Homes.
04:55How much would that cost? Where would you get the money from?
04:57Yeah.
04:59Let me clarify a few points.
05:02Veterans is incredibly important.
05:03This policy is actually about current serving personnel, just to be absolutely clear.
05:08So when I was in government, I was a minister for defence procurement,
05:11responsible for the defence estate.
05:12Now, you will know that many reports of the shabby quality of defence homes,
05:17I'm afraid I was embarrassed by it.
05:18That's because basically, structurally, those properties were poor quality.
05:22And the conclusion I came to was, look, we've got lots of people leaving the armed forces.
05:26They're down 1,000 since the general election.
05:28One of the reasons for that is the poor quality of accommodation.
05:31Let's do something about it.
05:32The problem is the defence estate was sold off in 1996, and that meant what you couldn't do was rebuild the estate.
05:38You could just put, if you like, what you call sticking plaster solutions in place.
05:42So I did a lot of work in government to buy back the defence estate.
05:45That concluded, the legal part of that concluded under the current government.
05:48The cost is about 5 billion.
05:50But just to be clear, that cost was matched by how much we save from the national debt,
05:55because we as a government were paying to rent those homes effectively.
05:59So by restoring ownership, we now have this amazing opportunity to deliver homes for heroes,
06:04for those who serve our country.
06:05But there's a big question.
06:06You know this.
06:07The difficult thing in government is delivery.
06:09How do you deliver that change effectively?
06:12So what I'm announcing today is we'll be setting up an armed forces housing association,
06:17so to properly ensure really effective rebuild and regeneration of the defence estate,
06:21delivering high-quality homes, and in addition to that,
06:25actually also offering more opportunities for home ownership for those who serve.
06:28What's your reaction to your counterpart, the defence secretary, John Healy,
06:33his comments over last weekend that plans to increase the size of the British army
06:39in order to deal with the new threats that we've been speaking about this morning,
06:42are going to be deferred until after the next election.
06:47Is it time that we increase the size of our armed forces,
06:51or is it right to delay it for now?
06:56It's an excellent question, because the policy I'm announcing today is really about retention.
07:00This is a fundamental challenge.
07:02It was a challenge for us in government and for many of our allies.
07:05And I think you make a very good point.
07:06You know, John Healy in opposition constantly criticised us for the size of the army.
07:10Fair enough.
07:11But actually, once he's looked at it, he's come out, and as you rightly say,
07:14and I think he's very weak, has announced it will only increase in the 2030s.
07:18And I think that's because of two things.
07:20First of all, he knows because of these sorts of challenges around retention,
07:23basically people are leaving in greater numbers than they're joining,
07:26that he won't increase the size of the army.
07:28It's very difficult.
07:29So he's put it off to the next parliament, so he doesn't have to be held to account for that.
07:33This parliament, I'm willing to be held to account for our policies.
07:36That's why I'm saying you've got to grip the issue of retention.
07:40The reason the armed forces are getting smaller is not because of a lack of new recruits.
07:44It's because too many people are leaving.
07:46And the number one reason in the recent armed forces survey was the pressure on family life,
07:51and housing is a big part of that.
07:52OK, Mr Cartlidge, sorry, before I let you go,
07:54how much would it cost a Conservative government to buy back the defence estate from Annington Homes?
07:59What's the figure?
08:02So just to be clear, that deal is completed.
08:04Just to be absolutely clear, it's completed.
08:05I think it was just over ÂŁ5 billion.
08:07But the cost, the sort of transactional cost, was outweighed by the benefits to the national accounts
08:13that you no longer, over many years, pay the rent, which, of course, is included in the national debt.
08:18So it's a deal that paid for itself, and it brings benefits beyond that.
08:21If you regenerate the estate, you can free up potential land to sell off.
08:25That will also bring income.
08:27The crucial thing is, under our policy of this new housing association,
08:30it would be totally independent and ring-fenced.
08:32So if there is money created for housing, it couldn't be raided by the Treasury
08:36or other parts of the MOD, it's about putting those who serve our country first
08:40and delivering homes for heroes.
08:42James Cartlidge, we're out of time with you this morning,
