Kemi Badenoch: Maternity pay is “excessive” and people should exercise “more personal responsibility”

[MidnightPatrol]

Tory leadership contender Kemi Badenoch interviewed today has said that, “Maternity pay is “excessive” and people should exercise “more personal responsibility”

When it was put to her that the amount of maternity pay was important for people who could not otherwise afford to have a baby, Ms Badenoch said: “We need to have more personal responsibility. There was a time when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies.”

An interesting position to take as part of her campaign for the Tory leadership position: less maternity pay and support for new parents.

I’d also like to know how her children are eg looked after medically and educated because those things are paid for from the money of one group (adults) and given to another group (children) and surely parents should take some personal responsibility and privately medically care for and educate their children? There was a time there was no nhs or schools and people were having lots of children.

Completely agree. She’s absolutely awful.

The sheer fucking stupidity of saying 'People had more babies before maternity pay' 😖

A) the economy didn't require households to have two incomes
B) For the first few decades it was around there wasn't birth control either!

In some ways I do see the point she is making. If only wages were high enough?
We are truly locked into a system of paying benefits to subsidise low wages. It makes us dependent on the benign state and that government currently wants to control us.
Now the state is going to feed our kids their breakfast. This is wrong in principle. It takes responsibility away from Parents.

So Kemi, what about serving in a government led by a Prime Minister who tries his best to avoid personal responsibility? Who wanted us not to know about the existence of one of his children and went to court to try to keep it quiet?

You were happy to be a part of Boris Johnson's government.

Blardy 'ell, @NashvilleQueen .

Is that screenshotted post from 2019 verified as being on Kemi Badenoch's Facebook account?

'Cos it's such a slamdunk I'm struggling to believe she's been that dim enough to leave that lying around.

Although of course she might try to claim that Facebook post was all about her wonderful colleagues picking up any slack for her, and her right to take maternity leave.

And that it's just the minor detail of level of maternity leave pay where she's happy to throw other women under the bus – while resting comfortably on her husband's pay and the capital she built up during her years in highly paid jobs.

@PerkingFaintly yes it's her https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2506131686119343&id=100044481577936

I suppose she will say that she could afford to have her children without being a tax burden to others. But that doesn't chime with the overall tone of the post. Either way I don't think this will resonate with as many people as she would hope.

@JustAnotherPoster00 I don't think I've ever used that phase 🤣 I fall into the age group of having to listen to this ageist stuff but also having to wait ages to even claim a state pension. For the record families need more help, not less especially if we are to improve the lot of women.

Isn't she the Radical feminists' darling? They fawn over her in the feminist forum. Strange stance to take. But I guess it makes a queer sort of sense. Motherhood isn't highly esteemed by feminists.

Tbh it is a shame there are so few gender critical MPs fighting for women’s right to same sex spaces, that even one who comes out with stuff like this is still seen as a pro-women.

No way! 😂🤦🏾‍♀️

She's a staunch Christian so in my very cynical opinion, she's anti Trans rights anyway. Saw how the wind was blowing and latched onto Gender Critical feminism as a vote stealer.

It worked as I know of an awful amount of feminists who voted Tory because of Badenoch. When I argued that she was a Thatcherite and didn't care about women's rights, I was accused of racism.

Yeah sounds like she’s a bit opportunistic when you put like that!

Its entirely unsurprising that KB says this. She is an extremely conservative conservative who believes in a very small state.

I’m not sure Kemi is the kind of Tory who thinks wages are too low. I suspect she would have voted against the NMW if she’d had the chance.
Surely if parents are struggling so much financially to feed their kids breakfast we shouldn’t be punishing said kids by denying them breakfast ?

I agree with all of this

I think her mask has slipped now that she's using dog whistle politics to appeal to Reform voters and criticising maternity pay. What kind of feminist criticises maternity pay?

Yeah. Yes she was right on the trans issue, but that is because its a load of bollocks and everyone except uncritical tribal leftists and committed ideologues can see that.

It doesn't mean she is a feminist and she is not.

Thanks for verifying that, @NashvilleQueen . Sheesh.

It’s like when there were people against vouchers being sent to the parents of children eligible for feee school meals during lockdown and school holidays saying parents should feed their kids/only have the kids you can afford etc.

Yes, in an ideal world everyone would be healthy and able bodied forever, in stable employment and perfect relationships and have the exact amount of children they can afford in those conditions which would not change for the entirety of those children’s childhoods. But… that’s not life. So while we live in an imperfect world, with imperfect lives (whether other people believe they’re of your own making or not) let’s feed the children who did not ask to be here, did not choose the family they’re born into, cannot change that family’s circumstances and cannot earn their own money for food.

Why is that even a debate.

GIVE THE CHILDREN SOME BLOODY CORNFLAKES AND LUNCH.

Yes I suppose it goes to show that being gender critical doesn’t necessarily make you a feminist.

Definitely. Look at the pound shop Eva Braun they all idolise. Some very dodgy bed fellows.

I don't know whether she's a Christian, but I suspect we were on some of the same threads as I said the same thing as you (ie: she's no friend to women, she's just anti-rights generally, even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day) and was also accused of being a racist. Maternity pay is a really, really basic component of women's rights. She's no friend to women and nor is her party.

Idiot Tory doesn’t understand tax and why women can’t afford to have families? Quelle surprise.