19 top responses to Kemi Badenoch tying herself in knots over whether maternity pay is ‘excessive’
As one of the remaining Tory leadership hopefuls – alongside Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat – Kemi Badenoch is currently very keen to put her pitch across to journalists, such as Times Radio’s Political Editor, Kate McCann.
They discussed issues around the impact of pregnancy on businesses. It wasn’t exactly the most coherent of conversations on Badenoch’s side, and it resulted in a serious case of foot-in-mouth disease.
“There was a time when there wasn't any maternity pay and people were having more babies.”@KemiBadenoch suggests statutory maternity pay is "excessive".@KateEMcCann | @AdamBoultonTABB pic.twitter.com/j21Vaw7nXN
— Times Radio (@TimesRadio) September 29, 2024
“There was a time when there wasn’t any maternity pay and people were having more babies.”
“Statutory maternity pay is a function of tax. Tax comes from people who are working. We’re taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive.”
She later suggested that her words had been taken out of context.
NEW: Kemi Badenoch says the remarks she made on maternity pay earlier on have been 'misrepresented'.
She told me: 'I think maternity pay is a good thing, I don’t think it is excessive. I see that there is some mischief being made on social media trying to misrepresent me.'
— Josh Gafson (@JoshGafson1) September 29, 2024
Of course she did.
Kemi Badenoch has a habit of doing this when her words are accurately reported but do her political harm. https://t.co/0hB4dY4sB6
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) September 29, 2024
Only time will tell whether her attack on workers’ rights will win her the Tory top spot, but it got a huge thumbs down online.
1.
The UK has one of the lowest rates of maternity pay, but Kemi Badenoch thinks it's too high. Quite a surprising attitude for a woman who is definitely working class. pic.twitter.com/3L9bNir7Uc
— Parody Keir Starmer (@Parody_PM) September 29, 2024
2.
I shouldn’t need to clarify this but we have a solidly mediocre maternity offering in this country and a worsening birth crisis, so Kemi Badenoch is suggesting that we pay women less to do one of the hardest jobs imaginable can really only be appealing to people who hate women.
— Rebecca Reid (@RebeccaCNReid) September 29, 2024
3.
"My mother didn't get maternity pay, had 46 children and we still managed to get by, even if we did have to sell one of our kidneys." https://t.co/ULQ1F9o1rN pic.twitter.com/lLf32Sddx1
— Colin the Dachshund (@DachshundColin) September 29, 2024
4.
Is she still ‘working class’? Or does that only apply in a McDonalds?
It’s so hard to keep up. https://t.co/wSS3ruq8Nq— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) September 29, 2024
5.
There was a time when cholera was rampant and people were having more babies then as well Kemi https://t.co/rkdLSihj5V
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) September 29, 2024
6.
So Kemi Badenoch has had a look around at the burning wreckage that is this country and decided that the real problem we face is maternity pay
Good heavenshttps://t.co/4tal9dP6a5
— Liam Thorp (@LiamThorpECHO) September 29, 2024
7.
There was a time when, to be taken seriously as a senior politician, you’d have to know the difference between causation and correlation.
The birth rate was higher before women had the vote, Kemi. Are you suggesting…actually, don’t answer that. https://t.co/sMjenyX8zS
— Nick Pettigrew (@Nick_Pettigrew) September 29, 2024
8.
Maternity pay in this country is practically Dickensian. I feel genuinely sad (on a number of levels) that we live in a society that has created Kemi Badenoch. pic.twitter.com/Nl1layGa3M
— Jen Offord (@inspireajen) September 29, 2024
9.
After the first 6 weeks of being a Mum, statutory maternity leave is just £184 per week.@KemiBadenoch believes that is "excessive."
A reminder of how desperately out of touch the Conservative Party is with families across the country. pic.twitter.com/io610rfbwD— Andrew Lewin MP (@Andrew_Lewin_) September 29, 2024
10.
I think Badenoch should check her facts before attacking maternity pay
For facts about motherhood and parenting discrimination follow @PregnantScrewed https://t.co/gTXhNJYeer pic.twitter.com/LxxJAygyKq
— Akeela Ahmed MBE (@AkeelaAhmed) September 29, 2024