ITV News interview with Robert Peston: Europe, Manchester City and RAF Fairford

Well, there are more as well. Of course,

Canada option uh that recently was uh discussed. There's staying as we are.

British public opinion is I think it's changed since the referendum and therefore it's right uh to start the process of saying what is the right long-term relationship for Britain with our nearest neighbor our largest market. It's right to ask the question. If I'm going to lead Britain to a place where we're in a stronger position, then you have to ask.

by that? By uh where people are and making sure we know uh what people would want us to do.

We can't go through though. The first thing is a decade like the one we've just had. I'm very conscious. I'm the seventh prime minister in that decade. We've had uh too much conflict, too much division, too much drift.

And we need to draw a line and start to say right where is this country going in the long term. That is my job as prime minister to face up to that question and then to give the country the realistic options as to what that might involve. Now I was talking about many other things yesterday, social care, how we reform energy and water, but huge stuff to I can't avoid the Europe question if I'm to put out a credible 10-year plan for Britain and that's why I've started this process.

Well, we will see, won't we, um, what happens because I don't know what, uh, Europe will say about the different options. We've got to look at where we are, where they are, uh, and see what is a realistic and viable approach in all of the areas that we mentioned and then open up a conversation about it. What I said yesterday is I want more honesty in politics and politicians not cowering away from issues perceived to be difficult, Europe or social care. That's what we get from Westminster too much. I said in my speech, I'm coming back to Westminster to change it, to change the culture because Britain will not get back on the right path until we do that.

And in this is part of the problem.

Well, everything you've just said would have to be taken into account if that was um the direction uh that it was leading. And you have to be really careful about that because referendums do damage in terms of they divide households and communities. So we have to proceed with with great care and that would be the first thing I'm saying but we're nowhere near that point. We are nowhere near that point. This is just about saying what are the broad options that we have got.

You have the Lib Dems debating this at their conference. You have George Osborne coming out putting his idea on the table. You have Mark Carney going to Europe and saying is there a relationship that we can have? And also you have people who will say no stay where we are. That's what we voted for.

You have to judge all of those things alongside each other. I

Those those are my you know my instincts. Uh I think we have seen growth harmed by Brexit and it's hard to see how we can get back to the higher levels of growth we once had by staying too distant from our largest uh market. I look at the world as it is uh with all of the um the threats that we see around the world. I think it is uh better to be closer. Now that's my personal view.

It doesn't mean I'm leaping towards any of those options because all of them uh will bring pros and cons. But what I do think it's right to do is open up the discussion because a decade on we're not where we need to be. The country isn't functioning as it should. Uh there's been too much drift, too much turbulence in politics. Hence, the next decade for Britain has to be better than the last.

And it has to be better in terms of growth and also immigration control because that has been weakened by Brexit. And it's time to be honest about things, have the discussion, and see where we get to. But at this stage, there's no assumptions about where this will lead.

Well, it's important for me to recognize the huge uh investment that has gone in not just to Manchester city but everywhere around the Etihad, the Etihad itself.

The thing I would say about the precise dispute between the Premier League and Manchester City Football Club is that needs to run its course. And the reason I say that is because I was in a dispute with the Premier League on behalf of this football club where we are

It wasn't trivial to me. I can assure you.

They didn't. They didn't at the time when I took up the fight for Everton. And what I would say is these are really complex uh rules and situations.

I I'm I'm not in a position to proclaim guilt or innocence, but what I do know is I was really uh dissatisfied with the nature of the process that had been conducted when Everton uh was finding itself part of an independent commission. So I'm just going to speak honestly. If I was a supporter of another club, I don't I wouldn't want to see the prime minister coming in and proclaiming guilt uh before the issues had fully run their course in the courts and everywhere else.

I can uh say that there are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at Ara Fairford. Uh so we can confirm our belief um that they um that they did play a part. Uh but it remains a live police investigation uh in terms of counterterrorism at police. So I don't feel able to say any more at this point in time other than to add that it has taken up quite a bit of my time here in Liverpool this week. I did chair a meeting of Cobra on Monday uh so that we were across all of the details with cabinet colleagues.

Uh I want to pay tribute uh to Glstership police and also counterterrorism police who've done an outstanding job. They are across everything and have done everything right. They've got my full confidence in what they are what they are doing and we'll say more when we come.

Honestly, uh no, not enough. Uh when I walked up Downing Street starting my journey as prime minister, I was clear that my dad was ending his and the two things coming together in the way that they have has been hard. I I wouldn't uh say it hasn't been and it does hit me in waves a little in terms of the quiet moments. Um but then what do you do? You've got to to channel it in some way.

And I was proud to channel what he represented in my conference speech uh yesterday. He wasn't a politician. He was political because he was a son of this city and he had very strong principles and he would do nudge me and he would guide me and he did and you know very much yesterday I wanted to to speak uh to all of that and the way in which he shaped me on my journey to that uh to that stage and the Britishness that he represented you know always about unions, people working together um very proud of uh of what this uh this city represented and you know I spoke to all of those uh values in my in my speech yesterday. I hope I did. I hope I didn't improve.