Bullying in House of Commons

[PinkCatInATree]

Watched the news after a day out yesterday and saw the bullying in the House of Commons

Like Rachel Reeves or hate her, to pick on her and snark away at her when she is visibly upset is intolerable. Bullying at its most basic.

In any other workplace it would have been a disciplinary offence.

AIBU to want better behaviour (sadly I no longer expect it)? What a deplorable bunch and shame on the media reports for not calling out the bullying but instead for adding to it.

Honestly I think you have to have a really thick hide to get to the point where you become an MP. They are constantly throwing swipes at each other, I imagine Reeves herself has put the boot in a couple of times. It’s awful to see anyone cry but it’s the nature of our politics, rowdy. The opposition benches probably couldn’t see her clearly enough to know she was crying, her own colleagues though, they were close enough and none of them cared much did they.

I think it’s massively putting ‘normal’ people off standing to be MPs, ie those people with real life experiences. That’s not even factoring in the misogynistic online bullying that’s especially bad for women. I mean that’s not even discussing the two MPs who have been murdered in recent years(!!)

I have no sympathy. They’ve always had that horrible old school boy attitude in there.

It doesn’t really put me off tbh. Sometimes I wince a little but I don’t particularly want people who are making big decisions for the country to be very sensitive. You have to be a bit of an arsehole to the right thing sometimes without worrying what anyone thinks of you. Bit like how a fair few surgeons are psychopaths.

Rachel reeves is one of the first to dish it out no sympathy
if I behaved like that at work name calling and shouting I’d be disciplined and no doubt sacked

You’d be expected to do it if you worked in the HoC. Naive in the extreme to compare it to a run of the mill job.

If this sets a precedent that people can be sacked for crying in the work place I'm all for it. I have a few wet members of staff that I'd fire for crying too often.

Good thing for the unfortunate people who have to work with you that since Starmer endorsed his support for Reeves the markets have recovered. No precedent has been set although I expect your team is probably currently job hunting - I wonder why they’re crying?

I think it will be interesting if the HoC has to decant somewhere else for all the major maintenance and retrofit works that need doing (it has been on the cards for ages). Imagine behaving like that in a conference centre setting. Or even at work anywhere. It's rubbish pantomime and steeped in public school bullying. I'm not convinced it is at all effective.

If a man had made the comments Kemi Badenough made he would have been torn to shreds.
I find the adversarial attitude in the HoC most of the time pathetic.

We have a high performance culture. Some people can't hack it, those that do make a lot of money. No one is job hunting people are queuing up to work here.

Ooh, a high performance culture. How exciting!

It’s an embarrassment. We hold primary children to higher standards of behaviour.

Really not happy that these are our leaders, they can’t even hold civil and productive discussions, it’s all jeering and bullying.

High performance culture? They can’t hold a conversation.

I totally agree OP. I found Badenoch's comments absolutely vile.

Actually, when an MP has suffered a personal tragedy or loss, their opponents will formally offer commiseration and they will be treated gently for the rest of the day.

Rachel Reeves has not held back on the self promotion (I just wished she didn’t bang on about ‘first female Chancellor’ personally, and now I see I was right) , and she has certainly dished out the sneers and contempt herself.

It would also help her cause if she could actually formulate a policy which her own party was prepared to support.

I think a lot of the behaviour belongs in the 19th century. Have no problem with criticism and robust remarks about political choices, but the jeering, personal comments and nicknames are out of line.

i thought exactly the same. Bullying ,straightforward bullying . Kicking someone when they are at their absolute lowest and kicking them even more but what do you expect from the Tories. Sadly I think we are going to get reform in now. Perhaps all those opposing welfare cuts will be happy with that ?

Is that a euphemism for bullying? Because it certainly sounds like it. I gather the burn out rate is off the scale in these “high performance cultures”.

I've only just caught up with what happened but also missed what Ms Badenoch said; was it in reference to Rachel Reeves' public emotional breakdown? Sorry, not seen what was said.

Watching the video on the BBC news this morning made me wonder if there's been a bereavement in her family or similar traumatic event going on that others don't know about? It was uncomfortable watching.

Article here with some quotes: www.independent.co.uk/voices/kemi-badenoch-rachel-reeves-crying-tears-b2781778.html

Politics is a tough work environment. If they can’t hack it, then they shouldn’t do it. Plenty of women succeed in politics without crying publicly. 🤷‍♀️

Starmer talks to Kemi like absolute shit and nobody bats an eyelid

Think she was utterly pathetic.

This. No doubt the reason that the calibre of politicians is so abysmally low is because no one with an ounce of professionalism or decency aspires to working in such an environment.