Badnoch sinks to new lows as MPs appear increasingly out of touch



Badenoch

Conservative leader Badenoch has descended into the gutter of British politics as she threw loaded words like “traitor” at Labour MPs and made clear her disgust at politicians apparently seeking to improve inequality in the UK.

Taking aim at Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who she says has been “loyal and incompetent”, Badenoch disgustingly stated:

It turns out, appointing a spiteful class warrior as education secretary was a disaster.

However, she also pointed out how the taxes were introduced to increase the number of teachers in state schools — which hasn’t borne out — but Badenoch appears more to have an issue about the class aspect than the failure to deliver for working class children.

Once again, a leader of the Conservative party reminds the country at large who it works for — the rich — and who it would likely spit on — the working class.

Levelling up education = spiteful class war, according to Badenoch

What Kemi Badenoch chose to say about the Education Secretary says far more about modern Britain than it does about education policy.

For millions of working and middle-class families, living standards have stalled, wages have flatlined, and the dream of a secure home and a better future for their children feels further away than ever. Yet the people with the most wealth and influence still enjoy privileged access to politicians and policymakers that ordinary people can only dream of.

Phillipson’s policy may have failed — most attempts to curb the power and privileges of the wealthy usually do — but Badenoch’s reaction was revealing. The vile rhetoric on display seemed less about whether the policy would work and more about the audacity of challenging a system that routinely benefits those who can afford to pay their way to the front of the queue.

Most parents are not exactly asking for special treatment. They just want decent schools, decent opportunities, and the sense that their children are not starting the race ten steps behind. Badenoch’s comments suggested that even modest attempts to level the playing field are enough to provoke fierce resistance from those determined to defend the status quo.

Phillipson has pushed back at the gross class attack by the Tory leader, pointing out how she recently compared “raiding VAT” to the Gestapo — a pretty murderous central part of the Nazi regime’s police service.

And they’re continuing the class war on X:

Badenoch shows no class whilst she attacks the ‘lesser’ classes

However, Phillipson says that no leader should throw around language like this in the House of Commons — but we would argue this kind of language is wholly necessary in referring to Israel and its genocide on Gaza, or the UAE arming the genocide in Sudan. 

But, as Phillipson alludes, none of our PMs have made these comparisons and politicians choose instead to be lapdogs for the world’s tyrants.

While Badenoch’s comments deserved to be condemned, this latest Westminster circus only reinforced how disconnected politicians are from the crises affecting millions of people at home and abroad.

Most alarming is the casual use of poisonous rhetoric. When senior politicians throw around words like “traitor”, they legitimise division and hostility far beyond the walls of Parliament.

That is not a harmless political game. Britain has already seen where hatred and extremism can lead in the murders of Jo Cox and David Amess. Politicians who choose to inflame tensions should not pretend their words carry no consequences.

Hoyle, Speaker of the House, called for “decorum”:

“We are all human” says Ed Davey

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey called for the Tory leader to remember that politicians are humans too and whilst robust debate is fine, derogatory attacks are not.

Yes, that is indeed true, we can’t deny politicians are humans and how we behave towards each other of course matters.

But it also exposes a rank hypocrisy in Westminster. After all, it would be nice if they also recognised the real human cost of their policies — or lack thereof — especially when it comes to the genocides we arm, support, defend and ultimately, shield from accountability.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been murdered, displaced, mutilated and maimed as a result of our complicity in genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan.

Sensationalist bollocks

Nevertheless, while Badenoch appears determined to follow Farage’s lead by resorting to sensationalist attacks in the hope of winning support, she is arguably succeeding only in making the Conservatives look even worse. That is no small feat after a decade and a half marked by austerity, chronic underinvestment, and policy decisions that inflicted significant hardship on communities across the country.

Badenoch may believe attacking Labour’s education policies is politically advantageous, but she either forgets — or chooses to ignore — the Conservatives’ own record in government and the consequences it had for ordinary families.

After 14 years in power, her party’s legacy is difficult to separate from the pressures facing schools, public services, and households today, and rather than heed their mistakes, they continue to stoke hate and division.

These are the oldest tricks in the book: divide, distract, and deflect.

Don’t be fooled. Badenoch and the far right stand with the interests that benefit from the status quo, not the ordinary people being squeezed from every angle. The more we fight each other, the less scrutiny falls on those with the wealth and power to shape the system in their favour.

Westminster politicians are spiteful, not working-class politics

Today’s explosive PMQs session only reinforced what many people already think: too many politicians in Westminster are completely out of touch with the crises devastating millions of lives around the world.

Then again, it’s hardly surprising. Both Labour and the Conservatives have spent years siding with the wealthy while squeezing struggling families, disabled people, and other marginalised groups ever harder.

We’re constantly told that “tough choices” have to be made. Funny how those tough choices always seem to mean cuts for ordinary people, lower living standards, and fewer public services. They never seem to mean standing up to billionaires, taking on vested interests, or speaking plainly to genocidal tyrants.

For Westminster, “tough choices” are almost always tough on everyone except those with wealth, power, and influence.

Featured image via the Canary

By Maddison Wheeldon





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