Kemi Badenoch knows what a woman is.

I think we have to be careful about suggesting that someone supporting or not supporting particular policies to address climate change makes them in any way comparable to vicious dictators. This is a democracy. People put forward their ideas and we say yes or no. They have no power of their own.

Exactly this.

... oh, and, look who's just had to pull a 180 because even Tories found that one hard to stomach:

www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/18/kemi-badenoch-backs-net-zero-tory-leadership-climate-u-turn

Literally just popped up as I was calling her "criminally negligent".

I'm obviously not claiming KB is a Mao or a Franco - merely using hyperbole in pointing out that it's entirely possible to be an utterly vile human being and still occasionally be right on something or other.

Having said that: KB's stance on climate, i.e. literally scrapping targets, in fact does have the potential to wipe out millions. Not through her actions alone, of course (and I didn't claim that was her goal) - but in my personal opinion ostrich policy on climate is, at best, criminally negligent!

@SoManyQuestionsHere

Mao and Franco killed millions of people. You’re comparing that to being a small state Tory?

You may be forgetting that we live in a parliamentary representative democracy, where laws are debated by all and get amended until they are rendered palatable for most to be able to agree on the words and vote accordingly. So what any PM wants is not necessarily the final outcome.

Mao and Franco led dictatorships, the opposite of democracy.

I respect KB, on some level, for coming as far as she has as a black woman.

But that's about it!

Can't stand any of her policy stances on basically anything at all from public services to immigration, human rights, and the environment. That woman is hard-right, and everything she stands for I despise. I'd sooner vote for an actual corpse (not that I'm a Tory, so I won't get to vote anyway) - the dead, at least, won't do active harm.

So she knows what a woman is? Big deal! I'm reasonably certain that Mao would, on balance, have agreed with my take on grass usually being some shade of green, and that General Franco would have concurred that water is, indeed, quite wet. I wouldn't have voted for them on that basis, though!

Yep, health care assistants and clinical support workers. I used to be one.

So they do exist, there's just far too few since they're paid a pittance for what can be a physically demanding and emotionally draining job.

Unless you're a member of the conservative party, you don't get to vote for the prime minister.

It's single-issue thinking like this that's landed us where we are now - loads of northerners with absolutely no benefit to be had from voting for the conservatives, voted based on their Brexit standpoint. Turkeys voting for Christmas.

@Fifteentoes

No issue with people saying what their own priorities are and why they intend to vote a particular way. I do have an issue with the ‘how can you possibly consider voting in your own interest’ crowd.

I am very sorry to tell you this antifascist but I agree with you on this point. How does it feel to be aligned with someone from the Prosecco Stormfront?

But seriously I do agree with you. When I was 13 and getting my careers information from 'Sue Barton, Student Nurse' the main skills involved seemed to be folding sheets to make impeccable 'hospital corners' and comforting the sick and frail with cups of broth. But that was in the days when, if you had Cancer, they basically sent you home to die. Nursing has changed beyond recognition and I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect a degree, although there's room for argument about the best way to get that qualification.

There needs to be someone responsible for actual nursing duties, like making sure older people actually eat enough food in hospital not to get malnourished.
I'm not sure trying to turn the clock back works but the current system has left huge dangerous gaps.

love to have someone operating say extremely sophisticated paediatric monitoring equipment using "empathy."

actually don't bother paying them either. Just chain them to the bed.

Nurses used to be recruited on empathy, not qualifications. We need to deprofessionalise nursing and return it to its roots.

This is a common trope among those who have never spent a day in an actual school and have no idea what all those "superfluous" staff actually DO or how much difference they make.

Surely if a woman can come on here and start a thread about "how I plan to vote, and why" - then others have the right to reply with what they think of it, pro- or anti-.

It's a discussion board. Posts are made to invite discussion. You don't get to confidently and proudly say why you think something's a good idea, while not letting other peope say why they think it's a bad idea.

Nadine White is a journalist who Kemi Badenoch accused of being "bizarre and creepy" - White had emailed her some questions for comment, which Badenoch then published without responding directly, and instigated a bit of a pile-on.

Our RSE package was less that £500.

Our school had to reduce our budget by £120,000 which was achieved by cutting staff to the minimum and not buying much stuff.

We have no extra funding next year. Our energy supplier has gone up by 200%. All our other contracts by 8-13%, paper supplies by 50% and salaries by 4%

I dont think the less than £500 (which saves time so less TA needed) is going to make enough difference.

Just a thought:

Teaching assistants (the life blood of every school, apparently dispensable according to KB) 75%+ female

Nurses (who would be disadvantaged by removing requirement for degree) 89% female

Professions with predominantly female workforces are routinely overlooked and under appreciated. Doesn't look like Kemi would be any different on that front

I also have KB as my MP and she made a memorable visit to my daughter's falling down primary where she told them the government couldn't afford to increase school budgets.

She's 100% right about what a woman is and I hope her views are heard in cabinet.

But politically her views are to the right of Iain Duncan Smith Liz Truss. So can she please not get anywhere near the leadership or the treasury?

Why is this dreadful woman so popular? She's a shit MP (I live in her constituency) and was one of Boris's true arse-lickers.

She is a known computer hacker (Harriet Harman's website), which is a criminal offence. She wants to roll back the state so far that it does and funds virtually nothing and she will bring back austerity, even if she isn't using those words.

If you thought we had austerity under David Cameron and George Osborne you've seen nothing compared to what you would be likely to get under Kemi Badenoch.

@lifeturnsonadime

I like her. But I don’t think she’ll be PM.

The fact that they have additional needs is a risk factor at home as well. I don’t say that personally at all, but this isn’t a simple issue and it certainly isn’t sufficient to make me believe KB wouldn’t do what she believes is best for kids. That’s all she can do.

If you have have children without additional needs then you haven no idea.

KB should have the ability to read reports like the one I've linked and realise that her policies on education will harm children. Many many children.

She'd be a disaster of a PM.

I'm very glad that your vast experience of nursing via your sister friend has allowed you to come to that conclusion,

From the conclusion of my nursing degree program in 1998 ( before it became embedded in the wider nursing programs), and many many subsequent years of nursing supporting students coming through and seeing them flourishing in their careers, I can see the benefit on the ground of the ability to critically asses and analyse to meet differing patients needs.

Just a thought but did your friend of a friend have a bit of a chip on her shoulder about a degree.... I was told (amongst many other things) I was "too posh to wash" when I started my program ( I wasn't and still give direct patient care most shifts now), I am a clinical specialist in my own right having just completed masters level study..... did my training need to be at that level, Yes! Absolutely to be assessing and prescribing safely.

The NHS is in dire straits and we need nurses at all levels to support HCA's, NA's RN's and specialists