Rachel reeves

Kemi Badenoch is a vile politician fighting her own back benchers, so uses any underhand modus operandi that she can.

Rachel Reeves looked awful didn’t she? Why didn’t she excuse herself from going into the Chamber? I don’t understand it.

Honestly I think RR should have darted off to the loos with 'an upset' to avoid being seen. House of commons is no place for anyone upset. Otherwise, I think she has handled things as well as possible, but the press and opposition snoops will be all over her and her family - I do not envy her one bit.

Rachel Reeves would have behaved the same. She is a woman who would try to belittle everyone, she shows it in her politics.

Mini2020

Rachel Reeves would have behaved the same. She is a woman who would try to belittle everyone, she shows it in her politics.

Even if that were true, tit-for-tat doesn't excuse any behaviour.

Ellie Anne

I have no idea why Rachel Reeves was so upset in the commons. Whether it was personal issues or work related is not my business.
But I was disgusted that kemi badenoch used her distress to score political points.

Totally agree! Not a fan of Reeves by any measure but KB showed her true colours. Also thought the many photos of RR on the news progs were unnecessary, talk about 'kick a man when he's down'.

Badenoch: cheap and nasty point scoring. Speaker should have called her to order.

Grantanow

Badenoch: cheap and nasty point scoring. Speaker should have called her to order.

And who is going to call the Speaker to order. As I understand it, he was the one who upset her in the first place.

Fair enough. I too, at the time felt sorry for her, but lying in bed last night I was thinking about it, my sister committed suicide due to the last governments decision to implement the bedroom tax.
This government what they want to do to the sick & have done to the elderly, regarding the WFA is beyond reproach. There will be more people struggling, ‘I am sure of it’ more suicides.
So do I feel sorry, no I can’t say that I do.
If it had have been KB in a similar situation, you labour supporters would have had a right field day for sure.

Grantanow

Badenoch: cheap and nasty point scoring. Speaker should have called her to order.

The Speaker makes me think of eg a teacher having one of their own children in a class and having to make a point of being stricter with them than the other children ( apologies to teachers; it isn’t really a good example but the only one I could thing of). He seems to come down much heavier on the Labour Party benches. He seemed to let Johnson get away with his bluff and blustering, too.

Reeves is a disgrace, she made me ashamed to be a woman and ashamed to be British. The world is disgusted with this behaviour in the Mother of all Parliaments. Or maybe she was crying for those aged souls on limited means from whom she cruelly snatched their winter fuel payment, or the hard-working farmers whose lives have been ruined by her??
If you can't stand the heat, Chancellor, get out of the kitchen....

Out of interest, would you feel as venomous towards a male politician if he was pushing through similar policies?

Kemi Badenoch is fighting two prejudices. She’s a woman and she’s black. But women resorting to being even worse than their male counterparts is inexcusable. It’s the reason but not the excuse. I see it as a betrayal of women.

It makes a change, she's usually very smug and smiley, especially when cutting payments to pensioners!

Mt61

Fair enough. I too, at the time felt sorry for her, but lying in bed last night I was thinking about it, my sister committed suicide due to the last governments decision to implement the bedroom tax.
This government what they want to do to the sick & have done to the elderly, regarding the WFA is beyond reproach. There will be more people struggling, ‘I am sure of it’ more suicides.
So do I feel sorry, no I can’t say that I do.
If it had have been KB in a similar situation, you labour supporters would have had a right field day for sure.

Mt61 I'm sorry to hear about your sister. I'm not a "Labour supporter* by the way and I do try to look at issues objectively.

As for WFA, I (like so many others) lost out and noticed the difference. However, I also think a lot of fuss was made out of a piffling amount of money. The whole thing was rushed through and the optics were dreadful, but I don't believe £200 a year makes much difference to people who are really struggling - and I don't believe those pensioners with generous pensions etc deserve the money any more than working age families do.

I've written before about my reservations about the disability benefit changes. I do think there needs to be a thorough review. IMO there are questions which need answering about the huge increase in the number of younger people claiming PIP for mental health conditions. Some of them are receiving more money than others in similar circumstances who don't qualify for PIP but are still struggling. There's something not right about the current system.

I don't have a lot of time for Rachel Reeves, but I do think she's been unfairly demonised and I think what Kemi Badenoch did says more about what a nasty person Badenoch is than about Reeves.

The whole thing has been a field day for the media and various opposition politicians. Labour needs to up its game seriously to understand the public and to explain its actions more clearly. Excuses such as not being able to afford something just won't wash.

Junglebub

Reeves is a disgrace, she made me ashamed to be a woman and ashamed to be British. The world is disgusted with this behaviour in the Mother of all Parliaments. Or maybe she was crying for those aged souls on limited means from whom she cruelly snatched their winter fuel payment, or the hard-working farmers whose lives have been ruined by her??
If you can't stand the heat, Chancellor, get out of the kitchen....

I'm a British woman. I don't feel ashamed about being either, whatever Reeves or Badenoch does.

PS. I'm on very limited means. The loss of winter fuel payment was noticed by me, but didn't make a huge difference. It was £200 - not £2000!

GrannyGravy13

I am not a fan of Angela Rayner, I would have had more respect for her if she had acknowledged RR’s distress. The same goes for the PM, I do not buy into the excuses that they didn’t notice/know

All it would have taken was a hand on her arm, like the hand on RR’s shoulder from the MP immediately behind her.

This they would have had to been statues to have not noticed her distress, some gentleman sitting behind her was decent enough to put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

I don’t feel sorry for her yes it was uncomfortable to watch but if it was something personal and that’s the spin her advisors are going with then she should have excused herself from being there. If it was work related then she shouldn’t be in the job

Yes Growstuff I totally agree that the system does need sorting, needs to be face to face interviews, to weedle out the not so bad, to the people that truly need it. (A family member was taken off pip, spina bifida, now early onset Parkinson’s), to some people that are so young & barely put into the system, are getting pip for a bit of depression.
My friend in her 70s, because of a tiny extra pension won’t receive the winter fuel. She won’t put on her calor gas heater on as it eats the gas. She has RA, her hands are stiff with the cold.

Mt61

Yes Growstuff I totally agree that the system does need sorting, needs to be face to face interviews, to weedle out the not so bad, to the people that truly need it. (A family member was taken off pip, spina bifida, now early onset Parkinson’s), to some people that are so young & barely put into the system, are getting pip for a bit of depression.
My friend in her 70s, because of a tiny extra pension won’t receive the winter fuel. She won’t put on her calor gas heater on as it eats the gas. She has RA, her hands are stiff with the cold.

£200 would have bought my friend two large bottles of gas.

Grow stuff I am in your court as I think KB behaved immaturely like a bully in the playground! RR has made some enemies due to rushed ill thought out decisions but did not deserve to be treated so badly by KB ! We have no idea about why she was upset and I refuse to speculate about it! In the scale of things there are more problems to ponder as opposed to the tabloids, as usual, making a big deal out of it all! I know two ladies who, in their previous jobs, had dealings with RR and said she was a very hard nosed person! So she must have had something which really got to her!
Being in the political limelight must take its toll! Nobody is immune to life so a bit of empathy/sympathy might be worth considering!
Having been a CAB adviser for 10 years I totally agree with an overhaul of the benefits system ! It is not fit for purpose
Farmers are a different ball game and we cannot lump them all together due to their different circumstances as you cannot lump all pensioners together for WFA!
A year is a long time in politics but the previous 14 years were endless !!!

Mt61

Mt61

Yes Growstuff I totally agree that the system does need sorting, needs to be face to face interviews, to weedle out the not so bad, to the people that truly need it. (A family member was taken off pip, spina bifida, now early onset Parkinson’s), to some people that are so young & barely put into the system, are getting pip for a bit of depression.
My friend in her 70s, because of a tiny extra pension won’t receive the winter fuel. She won’t put on her calor gas heater on as it eats the gas. She has RA, her hands are stiff with the cold.

£200 would have bought my friend two large bottles of gas.

How long would that have lasted?

I didn't receive the WFA as a result of my pensions, but I still have to pay rent. £200 wouldn't pay for two months' winter fuel bills.

I did notice the difference, especially as it had been £500 the previous year, but I've never earmarked WFA fuel allowance for fuel. I pay by direct debit, so it works out to £4 a week. I just have to be a bit extra careful with money every week. It's a tiny fraction of my outgoings.

TBH I think there's a lot of virtue-signalling and people aren't addressing the real issues. WFA has become just an easy target.

Thank you for writing that Susieq62. I really am no expert on benefits, but I can't help feeling that the media and public in general pick up on single headlines without a nuanced understanding of the underlying issues.

Mrs. Badenoch was completely within her rights and was merely pointing out that Stsmarmer and his ineptitude was causing her to be miserable. This may or may not have been the case but Reeves should not have been making a public exhibition of herself.....if she wants to be a politician, behave like one!

Kemi Badenoch has never anything but negative comments. I haven't heard her give any of the Tory plans. It's their mess that Labiour is trying their best to put right.

growstuff

Thank you for writing that Susieq62. I really am no expert on benefits, but I can't help feeling that the media and public in general pick up on single headlines without a nuanced understanding of the underlying issues.

Absolutely this!
Getting tired of the lack of nuance and intelliegent scrutiny in the media which feedsinto people's petty prejudices.
We're all experts now, except we're not really...

I was quite shocked by what happened in the Commons at PMQs. Seeing anyone in distress like that is very uncomfortable, and Badenoch showed her true colours, which are nasty and unpleasant...there was no need for any of it really.

People should be professional in their beaviour and not conduct themselves like kids in a school playground.

I found it embarrassing and demeaning...whatever the reason.