To think Kemi Badenoch is starting to talk an increasing amount of sense

[Sonato]

Never voted conservative a day in my life.

Seriously comsidering it after recent performances

The issue is that some people are paying huge housing costs particularly in private let's and even if they are on Uc they are not guaranteed all the rent paid due to the lha and things like fuel bills are rising all the time for everyone of course

It's completely possible for people to struggle depending on what their rent costs are - and their outgoings

There will be families who live on less than that obviously

I lived in poverty for a long time - no kids. I just don't think we should measure child poverty by whether you see someone walking down the road eating a snack as someone alluded to earlier

There are teachers in the UK who have spoken out about poor kids. Particularly in families where some kids qualify for school meals and the others don't. In England

I'm just glad in Scotland we do have a Govt who gives kids school meals - though it doesn't go far enough. Because that one meal could be their only meal of the day

There was a child in my home town who died due to neglect from her mum. She was 13. Unfortunately social services gave her back to her mum. She was hit. Starved. Neglected. And she died because her mum refused to call her an ambulance. I agree with you that it can be due to lifestyle but that's not always the case

I grew up in a family where we always managed until my stepfather came along. We were not neglected. We were fed and watered but my mum had nothing because my stepfather was a drinker and a gambler. He stole from my mum. He tried to steal from my gran

He once got a bank to cash a tax rebate my mum got - and drank it.

And she couldn't get him to leave because in those days battering your wife was just a domestic.
We don't always know what's going on behind closed doors

I have a uni mate who has very little. She's on basic UC and she gets money for her kid but that's it. Her kids dad is a danger and she's going to court as a witness soon against him. She's not on lcwra. I have no idea why because she has a genetic condition that means she's been in and out of hospital all her life - but they refused her it

I sent her ten quid a couple of months ago to buy her son some train sets and he sent me this video thanking me so much

People do struggle. We don't always see it

I am sorry to hear about your experiences as a child, your care on this subject obviously comes from your own experience of poverty, which is completely understandable.

Housing costs are a huge issue. Unfortunately labour's reforms have just made this worse for people (especially families) on benefits.

Agree that people who fall just above eligibility criteria for help are badly affected. I don't get help either (beyond child benefit and DLA for my youngest) but whilst my income is low I have the stability of being a homeowner which is why I don't feel my kids and me live in poverty, despite falling within that definition.

The reason I like Kemi is how she thought for herself, didn't do as told by the civil service, and tried very hard to make things happen as a Minister. I also now like her in opposition. I find that mostly when people criticise her, they're wrong and it's a political spin e.g. on here people criticising her for something that appears to have been a mistake by a junior staffer that she has taken down and apologised for. Not ideal, but I'd far rather a politician than owns and takes responsibility and apologises for mistakes than tries to cover them up.

The Tories have gone through many evolutions and they are clearly not 'the same old' people all the time. Boris got rid of lots of opposition to him - he removed the whip from 21 MPs following a Brexit vote for example. I agree that Boris and chums were bloody awful for the country but not all Tories are like them. I'm not only impressed by Kemi, Claire Coutinho is also very impressive and part of Kemi's shadow cabinet.

It takes a while to right 14 years of cock ups, running down of services and Brexit.

It was my mum that suffered. Not me. My brother and myself didn't go without - she did. (I'm not meaning that to sound as sharp as it does). We never went without. My mum did - just that if he hadn't been there -we would have had more money

My grandpa had just died of cancer and my mum didn't want to tell her what was going on. My gran hated him she was no fool - but she didn't know he was beating my mum. She was always good to us too. It's just that at that point in my mums life she didn't have much - and what she did have - he tried to steal. And of course he brought nothing into the house. He was lazy and didn't give a stuff about anything apart from drinking and gambling

It was the domestic violence that my mum eventually spoke up about that got him out thanks to her brother

Some women and kids have nothing because the women are being co ercively controlled. That was the point I was trying to make if that makes sense

I do understand that it's relative. It's the people that fall through the cracks that are the issue

Thank you x

Don't insult the people of Derry with that bullshit. People who are still fighting for justice.
Young staffer??? More bullshit. Did you see the video? That was not put together by any one person or a young presumably naive staffer. Neither was it removed immediately. Next you will want us to believe it was a stand in who looked like her, sympathising with those with guns in their hands while shooting people dead. It was live footage from that day. It took active social media awareness and others including Colum Eastwood (at least twice) raising it, before it was removed. As for the 'apologies', they took even longer.
She is a nasty, evil woman who as I said earlier is as bad as Farage.
She also refused to say that Robinson and his vile racist mob should be banned from marching. Yet she wants people supporting Palestine banned. Go figure.

Absolutely! Ditto as regards the Autism debacle. Her true values shine through.

I think you suffered through seeing your mum's pain and distress, don't underestimate the impact that has on a child.

Poverty is not just about money. It's also emotional poverty, it's about children growing up feeling safe and cherished.

I'm so glad your mum managed to get herself out of such a horrible situation.

Hang on a minute.

Badenoch is on record saying that she did not sign off on the release, so your anger is misplaced. Take it somewhere else.

I'm not insulting anybody. I gave you Kemi's explanation, which I believe. She hasn't tried to pretend anything, and I don't see any reason for this footage to be used other than a genuine mistake.
If you don't believe that it was a mistake, thats your perogative, but what would she gain from this so close to elections if it was a deliberate act? A mistake makes more sense to me.

If the families and friends of murder victims and the communities they are from say something is deeply upsetting and frankly inexcusable as it came from a senior politician, it is not a good look to minimise the hurt they feel.

You rightly criticise Starmer for blaming others for his fucks up. Badenoch has done exactly the same. She was also very tardy with her not very apologetic apology.

The Tories deserve to be voted out of existence. For good.

Haha!

She posted it on her Twitter and Instagram accounts. So either she is too stupid and lazy to check what is posted in her name or she knew and didn't care.

Her comments about Tommy Robinson's marches were pretty awful. The idea that those marches aren't intimidating or threatening for POC in this country is absolute nonsense when we have seen videos of drunk hooligans doing Nazi salutes. All easily accessible on instagram and Tik Tok for people who don't believe me. Last time I checked Nazis also hate Jewish people, so that stance of hers makes no sense at all given how clearly she states she won't tolerate anti-semitism.

”I apologise as well that that video went out in error.
It was removed as soon as the party understood that that was what had been put out."

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said use of the footage was "disgusting and disgraceful".

Eastwood said he welcomed the apology.

Seems a pretty clear apology to me.

She took zero personal responsibility and delayed apologising until she absolutely had to.

But carry on defending her every move.

They are threatening for anyone apart from his supporters.

I may have become cynical in my old age, but I find it quite telling that the opening poster hasn't reappeared. Almost as if they wished to just start a controversial thread 🤔

Good for you 😊 do it, ive always liked her xx

Being blunt - she handled the fallout poorly IMO.

One of the many things I despise about Starmer, is that he never takes ownership - it’s invariably always the fault of a third party.

Badenoch should have been quicker and more emphatic.

Yes I agree. It invites us to agree that Kemi is doing better. When anyone factually presents an incident where she hasn't done well there is a pile on of her supporters. It is as if any other opinion must be squashed.

Go figure? Is this Dawsons creek?😂

She did blame a third party. That is probably why you only posted a snippet of what she said. In full:

"I have apologised. I did not sign off the video. It was about a vote in parliament where Labour are putting in legislation that is hounding the very elderly veterans for things that happened decades ago, often under the instruction of political leaders who are no longer around.

“We support our veterans, but the video was done by very young people who did not recognise the footage as being from Bloody Sunday. So I apologise as well that that video went out in error.

“It was removed as soon as the party understood that that was what had been put out.”