Rachel Reeves crying in the House of Commons

[IdaGlossop]

AIBU to think it's possible to feel sympathy for Rachel Reeves for being visibly upset at Prime Minister's Question Time today, even if you revile Labour and its policies?

Lots of misogyny on Twitter - the UK is a laughing stock because of the behaviour of menopausal women in the Commons (including an example of Stella Creasy with her baby in a sling asleep and another of Angela Rayner flashing); women can't hack it etc etc.

I can only imagine it must feel dreadful to know the world has watched you in distress and that the financial markets have reacted because of fears of government instability. The phrase 'bring your whole self to work' is a piece of HR speak I can't abide but what we saw today was Rachel Reeves doing just that. Despite my sympathy for her, it would have been better all round for the upset part of her to have stayed in her Downing Street flat.

If it was a personal issue, she had recovered pretty quickly by the next day, wheeled out like a waxwork by Starmer.

I've respect for her appearing yesterday. It takes courage to stride out in front of cameras and address an audience when you know your swollen, crying face is plastered all over social media and the front pages.

Wow there are some really unpleasant people out there on Mumsnet. The Tories were not perfect. Reform are not perfect as we will very well find out. And none of us are perfect. Guess what. We are all human . Now there’s a revelation!!

There are reports that no 10 is frantic about Starmer repeating Reeves’s reason for tears as being a personal issue. They fear he’s been dragged into and repeated a massive lie.

I suspect they have much more to be frantic about at the moment than why she was crying.

The thing about lying is that unless you are the ONLY person who knows the truth its easy for someone to blab. Maybe you fall out with them, maybe they tell someone else when drunk. Add politics and intrigue into this and before you know it it’s out there…

I see that the usual suspects are excusing the behaviour, bringing in Johnson’s sleeping around etc. Quite honestly I think she is lying. She was never going to say the job just got too much for me but I have given myself a good talking to and less than 24 hrs later all is OK. I don’t buy it.

The HOC is a hotbed of secrets. I wouldn’t be sleeping well knowing that suddenly it’s all out there.

Exactly, so why are they treating the disabled the way they are?

Rachel Reeves has made her personal brand entirely about being an iron chancellor. I'd be at the end of my tether and sobbing because I felt the job was too much for me if I'd watched as the purse strings were loosened by a mob of back benchers and I knew my next task was to find £5bn to fill the hole they had created.

The definition of 'personal' is stretchable. You could say a sharp exchange with the speaker was personal because it's not the core of your ministerial job.

It’s interesting. Reeves and Starmer get Labour to a knife edge position with the markets, where any shift to left / more debt would cause a reaction.

He is as ever more focussed on landing jeering on KB than answering. The markets react. Reeves notices too and cries. But she has to stay in place.

Then you’ve got MPs ready to hollow bills and stop cuts, or demand spending.

Markets v MP spending. Who’ll get there first I’m not sure.

“As for your false equivalence and ingrained double standards”

What false equivalence? I think your comparison of Gordon’s Brown’s tears about his daughter’s death with RR tears is false equivalence.

Also - I didn’t mention sex or gender … you did.

I don’t think it’s appropriate to cry in public when you’re at work whether you’re a man or woman.

There are exceptions though . Crying over the death of a loved one is very different from the tears of hurt pride and self pity. It’s human nature to feel self pity and hurt pride but it’s better to cry those tears in private. ( I think most people already know this)

You brought emotion into it with your original comment, not me. I responded to the framing that this particular women’s tears were a professional failing - when in reality public emotion in politics isn’t new. You say it’s not about gender but the way it’s being talked about, pride, self pity etc is very telling.
Gordon Browns grief was deeply personal but was an example of being human -.not a performance review. Holding one up as dignified and the other as not is a double standard, whether gender is mentioned or not.
Showing emotion under pressure doesn’t make someone unprofessional, what matters is how they lead, what they stand for and how they carry on. From what I’ve seen Rachel Reeves hasn’t stopped doing the work or hidden away from the media and mass outrage and judgement she faces over 2 watery eyes.
I genuinely hope any children in your life - male or female - aren’t being taught that crying or showing emotion is a weakness. Being raised with that belief can have a lasting, negative impact on mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Oh for goodness sake 🙄

Most people instinctively know that the ability to control your emotions in a public professional setting is a necessary thing. Cry in your office/ the loo . Don’t cry in front of the people who depend on you and need you to be strong and focused.

Your last comment about the children in my life is pathetic and unworthy of response.

Exactly. If she announced that job seekers allowance was being halved and the NHS sold off to Elon Musk the City would have a collective orgasm. The ' market ' itself is rather emotional isn't it? One is always hearing it is ' jittery' or ' anxious ' about this or that. It's a shame we are at the mercy of such unstable people tbh. I imagine them weeping over inheritance tax or punching the air over the cuts in winter fuel allowance. The cocaine doesn't really make you more efficient lads.

I completely agree on all counts.

You needn’t be so emotional in your response. It’s hypocrisy at its finest - the classic ‘rules for the but not for me’ trope.

Agree re your reaction to the last line.

The emotion you detect is exasperation and frustration . But don’t worry- I’m not going to go and cry in public about it 😉