Kemi Badenoch launched a personal attack on Rachel Reeves shortly after the Chancellor delivered her Budget, accusing her of “whining” about misogyny. The Conservative leader told MPs that people are not complaining because Reeves is female, but because she is “utterly incompetent”.
Earlier, Reeves had called out “misogynistic” criticism she faced before the Budget, telling The Times she was “sick of people mansplaining how to be chancellor to me”. Badenoch responded by describing the Chancellor as “a woman wallowing in self-pity, whining about mansplaining and misogyny”, and argued that “respect is earned”.
Badenoch also criticised Labour’s tax policies, including the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap and a new levy on properties worth over £2 million. She labelled Labour as the “welfare party” and accused Reeves of being a chancellor who “steals your wallet”.
The Conservative leader further compared Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Reeves to comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, renaming them “Laurel and Foolhardy”. She described the Budget as an “exercise in self delusion” from a Chancellor whose policies have failed.
