‘Iran would be wise to rein in Hamas and Hezbollah’, says Andrew Mitchell

Cathy Newman: How worried are you about the scale of Iran’s potential response?
Andrew Mitchell: I think the Iranian government would be very wise to rein in its proxies, both Hamas and Hezbollah, and to listen carefully to what the United Nations said about the importance of a ceasefire. I think that although it will be difficult to get a ceasefire, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 shows the way, it’s important that Hezbollah now retreats behind the Litani River and that the bombing and the shelling of Israel ceases immediately. That’s the way we want to see affairs moving now.
Cathy Newman: But Israel is not listening to those calls for a ceasefire. And when you look at the number of people who have now been killed, 1,000 in Lebanon, tens of thousands of Palestinians, and many more than that injured and displaced. Should the UK be rather more forceful in standing up to Israel on that?
Andrew Mitchell: Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation proscribed by the UK, much the same way as ISIS and ISIL and Al Qaeda. We have no truck whatsoever with Hezbollah in any shape or form, and the Israelis have been shelled by Hezbollah and so they are entitled under international law to defend themselves and to respond to that. That is why I say, I think the United Nations Security Resolution 1701 helps to point the way towards a ceasefire. But Israel is entirely entitled to hit back, as they have done, against Hezbollah. Hezbollah is shelling its people and has meant that many of them have had to leave their homes and move inside Israel, and that’s completely wrong.
Cathy Newman: Would you back a ground invasion, if Israel launches a ground invasion in Lebanon? Or would you start to say what the current government has said, that they’ve curbed arms exports to Israel? Would you back that?
Andrew Mitchell: Now, Hezbollah must stop shelling Israel. That is the key ingredient to any ceasefire and any future settlement. If Hezbollah continues to lob shells into northern Israel, then the Israelis are entitled to self-defence. And if they judged that that requires a ground invasion or action on the ground, then I have no doubt they will take it and they’ll be doing it within international law. But my hope is that, as I say, that Hezbollah will withdraw behind the Litani River and then we can start to make some progress towards a genuine ceasefire.
Cathy Newman: You’re there at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham and Kemi Badenoch, one of the leadership contenders, got into a fight about maternity pay earlier today. Is the ‘nasty party’ back, as your former leader Theresa May used to call it?
Andrew Mitchell: Certainly not. And I think that Kemi has issued a clarification for what she said earlier today. But we mustn’t be frightened of talking about these issues. One of the things that the party’s got to do in opposition is to provide a credible alternative government, and we won’t do that if we refuse even to discuss these matters. But as I say, Kemi has issued a clarification of what she said earlier.
Cathy Newman: She didn’t need to clarify one thing. She said ‘there was a time when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies’. It’s quite clear the kind of import of what she said there.
Andrew Mitchell: No, I don’t agree. She’s made it absolutely clear that she supports maternity pay and we all support maternity pay, it’s a very important part of the social infrastructure and protection.
Cathy Newman: Okay. But when you have two leadership contenders calling for a withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights, you have another one, Kemi Badenoch, harking back to an era before maternity pay. How important would you say it is that whoever wins this contest takes the party back to the centre ground?
Andrew Mitchell: Everyone here in Birmingham knows that parties only win elections from the centre ground. They don’t win elections from either the left or the right. It is parties which command confidence from the centre ground that win. And none of that will be lost on all four of the excellent leadership candidates, one of whom will be elected on 2 November as the leader of the opposition and the leader of the Conservative Party.