Badenoch takes aim at Reeves over chancellor’s complaints of misogyny
Kemi Badenoch has launched an extraordinary personal attack on Rachel Reeves, accusing her of “whining” over allegations of misogyny, just after the chancellor announced his widely anticipated Budget.
Instead of criticizing Labour’s series of tax rises on Wednesday, the Conservative leader told MPs the chancellor was “pitying himself”.
Responding to the chancellor’s sweeping economic announcement, Ms Badenoch told the House of Commons: “People aren’t complaining because she’s a woman, they’re complaining because she’s completely incompetent.”
The statement came after Ms Reeves, Britain’s first female chancellor, called out “misogynistic” criticism she faced during the creation of the budget: Times He was “tired of people explaining to me how to be chancellor”.
Following her comments, former home secretary and now Conservative Party supporter James Cleverley said Ms Reeves was “right” about misogyny in politics, while discussing on Times Radio the “abuse” he saw his female colleagues endure.
But on Wednesday the Conservative Party leader chose to target Ms Reeves personally, saying her comments amounted to “a woman whining about self-pity, man-hatred and misogyny”.
“True equality means being held to the same standards as everyone else and being judged by the results. He says he wants people to respect him: respect is earned,” Ms Badenoch said.
Later, as the pair got bogged down in arguments while responding to the Budget, Ms Badenoch asked whether Sir Keir Starmer had “made sensible explanations” and whether he “needed help”.
Ms Badenoch said she opposed the Government’s decision to scrap the two-child limit on child benefit and that the so-called ‘mansion tax’ on properties worth more than £2 million would hit homeowners and generate little extra income.
Ms Badenoch said: “This is Labour’s Britain. Labor should be renamed the party of prosperity. People who work hard and save a lot to buy their own homes get more tax, while those who don’t work, and in some cases refuse to work, are paid for by taxpayers.”
He also said modest Budget measures, such as capping rail fare increases, were an attempt to “divert attention” from the big tax increases that show Ms Reeves is a Chancellor who “steals your wallet”.
Ms Badenoch said Ms Reeves and Sir Keir, who renamed the Chancellor and Prime Minister “Laurel and Foolhardy”, had lost all credibility, likening them to Hollywood’s Silent Film comedy duo Laurel and Hardy.
He added that the budget was “an attempt at self-deception” by a Chancellor whose policies have failed.
Ms Reeves has come under intense scrutiny as the autumn budget approaches, with questions looming over how she will fill a £20bn black hole in the public finances.
Commentators gave her nicknames like “Rachel of Accounts” and “Rachel of Grievances” as she prepared for the economic announcement, which was touted as the “make or break” for her career.
To talk Times last week, She admitted that as Britain’s first female chancellor, she still felt the need to prove herself to “the kids who write newspaper columns”.
Asked if this encouraged him, he said: “Yes, a little bit. I know there’s a target on me. You can see it in the media; they’re always coming after me. It’s exhausting.”
“But I won’t let them break me down by undermining my character or my confidence. I’ve seen off many of these boys before and I’ll continue to do so.”
She also faced criticism after she was seen crying during PMQs earlier this year; He later said that this incident was linked to a “personal problem”.
Ms Badenoch reacted to the show of emotion at the time, reposting a tweet from Conservative MP Claire Coutinho who said that if a chief executive or chief of staff had cried publicly they would “not be forgiven” for it.
