Rachel Reeve’s CV

The so-called expenses scandal is trivial Tory press mudslinging. Reeves should ignore it and focus on getting the UK back on its feet.

MayBee definitely a witch hunt

Of course I don’t approve of politicians lying. It’s just that there is a witch hunt concerning the current government in a way that I can’t remember happening before.

GG13 I didn’t say it made it right, just that it’s nothing new, plus the media seems more adept at mud slinging these days. I can remember being quite shocked at the time.

I am disappointed that the fact checkers and whoever else within the Labour party did not sort this out before the election, rather than now be facing gleeful 'revelations'. I don't necessarily think that experience within the Bank of England gives one the necessary expertise to be Chancellor, but facing allegations of exaggeration of her CV takes away the focus from what this government is doing, much of which I support.

On a side note, it is a bit rich when GN members accuse Rachel Reeves of being a liar, when those same members generally were fans of the biggest liar to take major office in this country, ie Boris Johnson. Liar is a harsh word, and not one I throw about lightly, but in the case of Johnson, it is proven

vegansrock

GG13 No it’s not right but I don’t remember any media song and dance about it, plus the lady in question seemed quite proud of the fact.

As I have no idea who you are talking about, or if the media knew I cannot comment further, other than to say the obvious two wrongs do not make a right

I don’t know about the history you mention MayBee, perhaps you could kindly enlighten me. It would concern me very much if a chancellor of any stripe were proven to have lied to the public about their background in an attempt to appear more ‘up to the job’, and were so dense (or cavalier) as not to realise that the truth would come out. And we also have the matter of the alleged investigation into her expense claims, about which she claims to know nothing, at the time of her voluntary redundancy’. The press won’t stop digging about that.

MayBee70

I’m more interested in how she performs as chancellor to be honest. I think there is a history of government ministers making false claims about their qualifications in recent years but there seems to be a concerted effort in the media and on this forum to find anything they can to throw mud at Labour. It’s getting tiresome.

Makes a change from insulting the Conservatives, Reform, POTUS Trump and his administration.

If she hadn’t lied embellished her former career, both on paper and in various speeches, it wouldn’t be a matter for discussion.

GG13 No it’s not right but I don’t remember any media song and dance about it, plus the lady in question seemed quite proud of the fact.

vegansrock

I worked in a school back in the day when a well known female Tory politician came to give a talk, she openly joked about lying on her cv including knocking 10 years off her age. Nothing new under the sun.

Doesn’t make it right though does it?

I worked in a school back in the day when a well known female Tory politician came to give a talk, she openly joked about lying on her cv including knocking 10 years off her age. Nothing new under the sun.

I’m more interested in how she performs as chancellor to be honest. I think there is a history of government ministers making false claims about their qualifications in recent years but there seems to be a concerted effort in the media and on this forum to find anything they can to throw mud at Labour. It’s getting tiresome.

But she has lied about her background, MayBee. Lied not just on her Linked In profile, but to the public. Does that not concern you?

RosieandherMaw

I wonder why no KS/RR supporters are rushing to her defence?

Maybe we’re more concerned about what is happening in Israel, America etc. and this thread just seems like yet another let’s criticise the government for anything we can find and ignore any of the good they’re doing. Do chancellors always have a background in banking? I’m thinking of Javid, Hunt, Quarteng ( that went well, didn’t it) Sunak ( I know he did) Hammond,Osborne, Darling, Brown. I think Ken Clark has been supportive of Reeves, as has Mark Carney. She probably has more of a banking background than some.

Hmmm … 🤔

I wonder why no KS/RR supporters are rushing to her defence?

Unless the 5 year old wants really to be 9 and a half.

Smileless2012

Why on earth does KS insist on supporting her? A chancellor who doesn't appear to know that a decade = 10 years and that 5 years and a few weeks isn't just short of a decade!!!

Despite the fact that she appears to have five digits on each hand she doesn't seem to understand that 5 is 5 🖐 and it takes 2 × 5 to make 10 ✋✋

Even a 5 year old knows that.

None of her mistakes were particularly serious.
However, what bothers me is that it shows an element of carelessness, slap dashery, not checking documents carefully, which are not things I want to see in someone handling the country's economy or tax system

While I agree with the second part, nevertheless I feel if people can be caught out in the area of the “small things” that has to cast doubt over their general honesty and veracity in the bigger things.
The sheer ineptitude is of course unforgivable - unless it is deliberate n which case, all the more so.

Rula

Mamie

Just to clarify, are we talking about a CV or an entry on Linkedin here?

Were you watching Question Time? The Labour MP made the same mistake.

LinkedIn is not Facebook . CV's are posted on there. It's not a frivolous social media app.

My son in law, PhD student , posted his CV on LinkedIn and had 4 businesses asking him for an interview. It's how it's done these days.

I know that. My daughter has used it for years. I would not class a Linkedin profile as the same as a CV written for a specific job advertised elsewhere.

Spinnaker

Sarnia

Maybe that's why she appears to be out of her depth as Chancellor. She clearly hasn't got the credentials for such an important job no matter what her embellished CV might say.
Reeves should go and take Bridget Phillipson with her.

This ⬆️ and along with Phillipson take Starmer, Rayner, Miliband, Cooper and Lammy also.

I agree

I can’t imagine how she thought that her lies wouldn’t be uncovered. Is that arrogance or stupidity, or both? The truth was known by far too many people to remain hidden.

Mamie

Just to clarify, are we talking about a CV or an entry on Linkedin here?

Were you watching Question Time? The Labour MP made the same mistake.

LinkedIn is not Facebook . CV's are posted on there. It's not a frivolous social media app.

My son in law, PhD student , posted his CV on LinkedIn and had 4 businesses asking him for an interview. It's how it's done these days.

I wonder why she felt the need to continue to repeat the same lie / exaggeration even when it was obvious her “embroidery” had been uncovered. There’s no specific qualification needed to be Chancellor of the Exchequer - many of the previous post holders haven’t had any more relevant qualifications or experience in the financial sector.

Perhaps she felt insecure because of the huge responsibility of being the first female Chancellor and the inevitable media attention that has brought. I’m not defending her at all, just trying to understand why she would get herself in such a mess.

Of course the Labour Party leadership and PR team should have been prepared for the media scrutiny and dealt with the subsequent questions much more effectively especially now the HBOS expenses issue has come to light.

I think telling the public several times that she spent the best part of a decade as an economist at the BoE, when in fact she spent just over five years there and was studying for upwards of one of those years, is pretty serious. She was attempting, by deception and lies, to engender confidence in her abilities which is clearly misplaced. How Starmer can support her is beyond my understanding.