I welcome the investigation of PM’s CV’s along with any other spuriousclaims they may or may not have made, as long as it is all MPs regardless of their political affiliation.
Gransnet forums
News & politics
“Half truths & many lies: Fact checking Kemi Badenoch”
(129 Posts)From punchng.com/half-truths-many-lies-fact-checking-kemi-badenoch/?amp
Here’s an extract:
Claim 1
According to Ms Badenoch…
“I grew up in a poor country, and I watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation. I came back to the UK at age 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life …”
Findings
“Multiple sources revealed that Kemi spent her early years in Lagos, Nigeria, where she attended the International School Lagos, a private institution, and graduated in 1996 before returning permanently to the United Kingdom at 16.
In a tweet dated January 22, 2025, a Lagos-based tax consultant, Kayode Okunola, accused Badenoch of distorting her family’s history to fit a narrative of hardship.
“Dear @KemiBadenoch, stop lying about your background. You were never from a poor family! Your grandmother, ‘Iya Ondo,’ was a prominent lace and damask merchant on Kosoko Street in Balogun Market. Your mum was a professor at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Your dad owned his clinic, your uncle was a dentist, and your aunt was among the Nigerian students recruited from the USA to the Central Bank of Nigeria,” Okunola wrote.
“If you were poor, what happened to the rest of us who prayed to come from families like yours? Your claims mock the memories of those who genuinely struggled without the opportunities your privileged upbringing afforded you. Please stop!” he added.
In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, Okunola further shed light on the privileged status of Kemi’s family.
He said, “I knew her family well. My family and the Adegokes attended the same church—St. John’s Anglican Church, Aroloya, Lagos Island. Her grandmother, ‘Iya Ondo,’ was a renowned figure in Balogun Market, selling premium fabrics, which weren’t for poor people. Her father owned Iwosan Hospital in Surulere, and her mother was a prominent figure in the Physiology Department at the University of Lagos.
“In those days, only a select few could afford private schools like the International School Lagos, where Kemi studied. It was a school for the children of professors and the elite. Most of us attended government schools. Kemi’s claims of poverty are simply untrue. Her narrative misrepresents her background and mocks the struggles of genuinely underprivileged Nigerians.”
Well, well!
"Saying somebody else did it too won’t make RR’s or KB’s actions any more acceptable."
I'm glad you wrote that Mollygo. I agree wholeheartedly. "Everybody does it" has never been an excuse for poor behaviour and sounds like the kind of thing a toddler comes out with.
LizzieDrip
The media is apparently spending a great deal of time going through historical CVs, LinkedIns etc of Labour MPs.
I wonder how much time has been similarly devoted to those of Tory & Reform MPs🤔
They spent endless time digging for dirt on Tory MPs before. If they missed the opportunity to look at Tory or other CVs, I’m sure they’ll make up for it now.
Saying somebody else did it too won’t make RR’s or KB’s actions any more acceptable.
The media is apparently spending a great deal of time going through historical CVs, LinkedIns etc of Labour MPs.
I wonder how much time has been similarly devoted to those of Tory & Reform MPs🤔
The media have been trying to find anything bad they can pin on Labour ever since they tried to discredit Starmer about his mums donkey sanctuary.
Maybee is right, there are lots of decent MP's. Implying they are all like that is a dangerous bandwagon becuase of our shrinking voting figures.
When do we get thread or mentions of an MP doing well, being a great MP? I get fed up of the moaning never praising, is it just us in the UK?
Practically speaking, I agree with Claremont, it depends on the circumstances.
To concoct a whole back life story and be a party leader, well, that is bizarre to say the least
Freya5
growstuff
Shinamae
Well, she’s a politician isn’t she? Surely you don’t expect the truth from many of them?….😬
Of course I do! She's a liar and being a politician is no excuse.
She can join Reeves then, in the liars club of Parliament.
All lies in political life are wrong.
Some are much much 'wronger' than others!
Jonathon Reynolds is being accused of fabricating his CV over solicitor claim 🤷♀️ And so it goes on…..
I guess in the case of both RR and KB, it goes to show how detrimental lying is for any party's reputation. The media simply won't let it drop, and both of them are doomed. Silly really, because they both must have known the implications - unless they really are stupid!
growstuff
Shinamae
Well, she’s a politician isn’t she? Surely you don’t expect the truth from many of them?….😬
Of course I do! She's a liar and being a politician is no excuse.
She can join Reeves then, in the liars club of Parliament.
Yes I am. Which is why I struggle to find lots of lies put forward by remain but know of many put forward by leave. European army, Turkey joining the EU, cheaper energy bills, no problem getting trade deals as soon as we leave the EU.
You're more than capable of looking things up, MayBee70
Off hand, house prices were going to plummet and unemployment was going to soar.
Both very wrong.
But Brexit has nothing to do with this thread so I'll leave you to it.
Rula
To be fair, those who were pushing for Remain told a few whoppers as well. Easily found if you care to look.
Such as? Emergency budget was one. Please remind me of the others...
None of them have held to scrutiny.
To be fair, those who were pushing for Remain told a few whoppers as well. Easily found if you care to look.
So why didn't we get a public outcry when Farage et al lied about brexit? Why were we ridiculed and branded 'project fear'? For what it's worth I don't think that all politicians are liars. It's a rotten job that I certainly wouldn't want to do. Lots of criticism but very little thanks for what they do.
mabon1
Many MPs are fibbers, what's new?
So why just accept it? They need weeding out.
That won't happen while people like Badenoch and Reeves are allowed to lie with impunity and get away with it.
Or as seems to be happening, equally wrongly be excused on the grounds that a lie from an opposition MP is worse than another.
Politicians are known for being economical with the truth. Have been for years.
Difference today is they just can't get away with it any more.
They're going to have to get used to nothing being safe any more, thanks to the Internet and stop telling them.
They are getting called out for it now, that's relatively new & MPs revel in it when an opposition MP is "found out" but act all innocent when it's them under scrutiny.
mabon1
Many MPs are fibbers, what's new?
So why just accept it? They need weeding out. That won't happen while people like Badenoch are allowed to lie with impunity and get away with it, as well as being a useless constituency MP and completely out of her depth as Conservative leader.
Many MPs are fibbers, what's new?
Allira
The fake news came from her very own mouth,
NonGrannyMoll
She also claimed that other students at her sixth form would go into McDonald's and laugh at her in her uniform.
I have no idea why because I thought she was attending an ordinary school in a fairly deprived area of London.
She told the Times of her time at McDonald’s: “You would have people from college who would turn up and laugh at me because I was there with my hat and badge and I didn’t have any stars. But it was what I had to do. I didn’t have money. My parents weren’t here and I was living with family friends. So I had a roof over my head, but I needed to earn to live. There’s dignity that you just get from working and earning your own money.”
Fair enough. But many sixth formers have part-time jobs (my DC did and now my DGC do) so I have no idea why these students would laugh at her as I'd have thought they had part-time jobs too.
www.ibhm-uk.org/post/kemi-badenoch
When she was in the sixth form, my daughter had a job cleaning the toilets at her school. As far as I know, nobody turned up to laugh at her.
Boz
MayBee70
I’ll always remember listening to the radio the night/morning when Trump was first elected and Margaret Beckett used the term ‘post truth politics’; something I’d never heard before. It’s so difficult to know what to believe these days.
You only have to read GN to realise people believe what
they want to believe. Links to substantiate anything can be found on the Net..
I also agree with Politicsnerd is that we are entering a age where Politiians are distrusted and people are turning to business men to sort out the world.
What about business women? Surely some of them could do a good job.
Thanks for posting that link Allira. Amongst other claims, she is quoted as saying she was “once the only woman on a building site with 300 men!” Apparently she said that to the selection panel, but she was a software engineer. AFAIK software engineers don't routinely spend time on building sites.
Anyway, I'm glad (!), her parents (or some other benefactor) recovered enough financially to pay for her to attend an expensive "gap year" apprenticeship scheme.
Not only is she a liar, but she really doesn't seem to have a clue about running a country. Her main concern is fighting "wokeness".
MayBee70
I’ll always remember listening to the radio the night/morning when Trump was first elected and Margaret Beckett used the term ‘post truth politics’; something I’d never heard before. It’s so difficult to know what to believe these days.
You only have to read GN to realise people believe what
they want to believe. Links to substantiate anything can be found on the Net..
I also agree with Politicsnerd is that we are entering a age where Politiians are distrusted and people are turning to business men to sort out the world.
Join the conversation
Registering is free, easy, and means you can join the discussion, watch threads and lots more.
Register now »Already registered? Log in with:
Gransnet »