Kemi Badenoch's disgusting attacks on Labour ministers were talk of the Commons' tearoom – Christine Jardine
Andy Burnham’s arrival in the Commons after his big win in the Makerfield by-election may have rattled the Conservative leader
This past week, politicians on the right have plumbed new linguistic depths in statements which do nothing to ease the increasingly tense atmosphere in our public life. Just days after the allegedly anti-Muslim attacks in Edinburgh, Robert Jenrick was adding fuel to the anti-foreigner flames by claiming that even EU citizens with settled status and decades of living, working and contributing here would be deported by a Reform government if they lost their jobs.
He reinforced the offensiveness with another Reform policy which would increase the likelihood of their unemployment by making employers’ National Insurance contributions higher for foreign employees.
That came hard on the heels of a performance by the leader of an increasingly right-wing Conservative party which seemed to abandon any pretence of government critique, in favour of a series of astonishing and nasty personal attacks on Cabinet ministers at Prime Minister’s Questions.
An opportunity to the gracious
Kemi Badenoch shocked even the most hardened of MPs with a series of stinging attacks which prompted the Speaker to remind the House that what we say has an impact, and if we use aggressive language our constituents and others might think that is acceptable.
This had been an opportunity for the Leader of the Opposition to demonstrate her graciousness and offer the departing Prime Minister an acknowledgement of his service, while congratulating her new MP and the team who had achieved an historic victory in Aberdeen South.
Instead, it was, quite frankly, a disgusting spectacle which left members across the House angry and distancing themselves from Badenoch’s behaviour. It was all anyone wanted to talk about in the members’ tearoom afterwards.
That the debate spilled onto social media might be seen by some Conservatives as a publicity coup. For the rest of us, it was a sorry tale which will simply reinforce the poor opinion of politicians and push people towards the angry populism of Nigel Farage’s party.
For me especially, it seemed to simply reinforce what a disgruntled taxi driver had told me only days before. He was voting Reform because he was fed up with the rest of us arguing about things the public don’t care about, rather than fixing the things that are wrong.
Fixing the country
In the wake of it all, it strikes me that British politics stands at a crossroads. We can go down the increasingly divisive, right-wing populist path, fuelled by a public perception of politicians only caring about our own bubble – an image which was enhanced for many by, in my view, Badenoch’s ill-judged and unnecessary approach at PMQs.
Or we can choose to listen to what the public is saying and fix the economy, the cost-of-living crisis and address the potential weak spots in our national security.
Ironically, last week Labour welcomed the man to their benches who they believe has the solution to their problems in government and who can pursue the stated aims of their 2024 manifesto more vigorously than Keir Starmer.
Perhaps it was Andy Burnham’s enthusiastic welcome and the scale of his win in Makerfield which prompted Badenoch and Jenrick to make their very different but equally outrageous remarks. For whatever reason, I believe they got it wrong. The British public deserves better.
Christine Jardine is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West
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