Hello, this is the Red Box Podcast. I'm Matt Shoddy with a very special edition today because I'm with Steve Swinford, the political officer of the Times, and we are in the office of the Minister of State at the Northern Ireland office.

Steve Baker, Steve, thank you for inviting us in.

Well, thank you for asking me to invite you in on Delighting and you're here.

You put it like that when you put it like that. It's a nice office you've got here. Explain to me what that picture is behind the door.

That is Wickham's weighing in, so that is a tripod with a chair at a big scales and after every May election, they plurators through the town and publicly wear us.

And the town cryer shouts out, Steve Baker MP and some more and the crowd goes, boo.

And this means you've put on weight.

It does, and no more if you've lost it. There's no marks for losing weight.

It's because there was a corrupt mayor years ago, got fat of public expense.

And it turns out in Wickham even the Labour party is conservative. They prefer it if people don't get fat of public expense. So, hence the weighing in, it's a great tradition.

Lovely. Nice having you with us.

Okay, well, we thought it'd be appropriate to start with Brexit.

Yeah, let's kick off it. Well, that's what we're here for, Steve. Brexit Hardman.

Let's talk about the worst mistake I ever made. Should I tell you what I did? Go on.

So, on the same day, I noticed in the press somebody'd written me up as Brexit Hardman.

I've never gone back and found the article, so it's too painful.

And then in the evening, I was on Laura Coonsburg's inside the Brexit storm documentary.

I was pictured trying to persuade a conservative MP to rebel.

And when I got off the phone, I had a tear on my cheek and Kate McCann of Sky at the time had seen this.

And she said to me, offer, Steve, are you okay?

Yeah, yeah, everybody knows I'm Brexit Hardman, Steve Baker.

And then stupidly, end of the long day, tired thinking it was funny, which of course it wasn't.

...