An Interview with Sir Ed Davey

Following his visit to Warwick University organised by Warwick Lib Dems, The Boar sat down with Sir Ed Davey, former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for a discussion about his time in government, his work outside politics and the Daily Mail.

The trebling of tuition fees caused a lot of controversy during your time in government. Do you still stand by your decision to vote for the change?

Yes, I think I have to. You have to be held to account for what you do. It wasn’t our preferred option, but we had to form a coalition [with the Tories]. We could have walked away, but I think if we had done that we would have had a Tory minority government, and they wouldn’t have just tripled them. They would have done a lot worse, look at what they are doing now.

How important was the tuition fees increase to the Lib Dems’ disastrous election result last year?

There is no doubt that some people didn’t vote for us because of that. But also some people had not forgiven us for going into coalition with the Tories. I think the thing that killed us in the election was more to do with Ed Miliband and the SNP. People really worried about the prospect of Ed Miliband as Prime Minister. I have a personal view that Liberal Democrats do better when the Labour Party has a more right wing leader like Tony Blair or a more left wing leader like Jeremy Corbyn.

Looking forward to 2020, then, how do you rate the Lib Dems’ prospects?

We could be in government in 2020. I’m not predicting it. It’s very early to say… but with Labour electing left wing leader who is clearly unelectable, no one will see Labour as a threat… the Tory party is eating itself alive too. Who knows what’ll happen by 2020 but with an unelectable Labour party and a divided Tory party, there is space. And we have to be true to our values. We made a mistake in the last election, we painted ourselves as a centrist party. I’m not a Liberal Democrat because I’m in the centre, I want to reform things. I’m not happy with the establishment.

Since leaving government you’ve provided consultancy services to private organisations. Would you therefore consider yourself part of the “revolving door” between politics and business, as the Daily Mail has accused?

First of all, I didn’t try to lose my seat – I was trying to get re-elected. I know I didn’t get into politics for the money. As a former minister, you should not be able to do certain things in the private sector straight away. I know I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m very proud to be working for renewable energy companies. If you believe anything in the Daily Mail, I’m afraid you probably shouldn’t be studying at a university.

If you believe anything in the Daily Mail, I’m afraid you probably shouldn’t be studying at a university.

The last government made important progress on social reform, including promoting equal marriage. What does it mean to you to have been part of that process?

I’m very proud to have voted for it [the repeal of Section 28, a piece of legislation from the 1980s which banned any talk of homosexuality in schools]… But some things happen whether you’re there or not, whether you’re an MP or not. Even though I moved the amendment, someone else would’ve repealed section 28. There are other things that I did in government that would not have happened but for me.

Like what?

The 2030 European Union climate change package is a dramatic piece of international agreement affecting a whole continent and having global ramifications… That legislation would not have happened if it was not me, personally, making that a big issue. I got no credit for it. I got no coverage for it. Same sex marriage got a lot of coverage. But in terms of moving the agenda forward…that agreement is a particularly important one.

Was that your proudest achievement in government then?

The thing I’m really proud of is the shared paternal leave that I put through as Employment Affairs Minister. It says that after birth either the male or the female can take parental leave. This is brilliant. This will improve gender equality. It will – I’m gonna say it – fuck those all those bastards who discriminate on gender. That is a Liberal agenda. That’s why I’m part of this party.