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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing some people 16:41 - Oct 6 with 2672 viewsDubtractor

But she is absolutely hopeless when put under any scrutiny.

These are pretty soft questions from a tory friendly journalist about their big announcement at the conference.

"I'm not a defence expert." Even by Kemi Badenoch's lamentable standards, this is agonising. Just give thanks she will never, ever be Prime Minister. šŸ™ #politicslive

— paulusthewoodgnome (@paulusthewoodgnome.bsky.social) 2026-10-06T12:02:00.491Z
[Post edited 6 Oct 17:23]

I was born underwater, I dried out in the sun. I started humping volcanoes baby, when I was too young.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 16:56 - Oct 6 with 1880 viewscarlo88

I think it's quite a remarkable achievement to be 4% lower in the polls from what was your worst ever election result two years ago. She's certainly got something going there..
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:03 - Oct 6 with 1852 viewsKievthegreat

The whole thing is a bit of a joke. It's a pretty nothingy policy statement dressed up as revolutionary with a name like Britannia Shield.

Essentially the Tories proposal is integrated air defence and early warnings. Which we've had in some form since the 1930s. They've made comparisons of this "Britannia Shield" to Israel's Iron Dome, plucked some numbers out of thin air, so we could do it for a fraction of cost, over a larger area of geographic coverage.

They aren't really proposing any revolutionary tech. Nor articulating a particularly impressive plan. Also really not helped by Kemi showing she has no clue* what she's talking about and fumbling through cluelessly. Defence is one of those areas where I don't want politicians grandstanding about their fantastic idea and attaching political capital to their pet projects. I'd much rather the armed forces decide on defence projects based on practical considerations rather than electoral.

*I don't expect her to be educating Ferrari on different types of interceptors, exact numbers of launch platforms, and real nitty gritty detail. However I do expect her to sound like she didn't just read a 3 line memo this morning and then blagging her way through it like a teenager who didn't do their homework.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:04 - Oct 6 with 1832 viewsDJR

She'd have got a rougher ride from him if she were Diane Abbott .

More generally, a lot of what the shadow Ministers have said this last day or so is depressingly simplistic.

The paranoid rant against the teaching profession by the Education spokesman was probably the low because it bears no relation to my daughter's experience as a teacher.

Here's a flavour.

"Weā€™ll properly enforce the rules on political impartiality for teachers and guest speakers.

And weā€™ll create a specific law around trade unions involved in education.

They must not bring politics into schools."

She claimed that pupils were being exposed to unsuitable ideas in the classroom.

"Children as young as seven are being told they have white privilege.

Pupils are learning that a woman can have a penis, a man can be pregnant, and sex is assigned at birth.

Some have been told to rewrite negative headlines on migration to make them more positive.

And others have been taught that Britain is a racist country.

This is fiction being presented as fact ā€¦.

This is part of a trend of complex, controversial, contested issues being boiled down, laced with political bias and delivered in a place that children trust; schools."

EDIT: this was the NEU's response.

"This was such a disappointing and cheap speech ill befitting a politician wanting to by secretary of state for education. Laura Trott had the chance today to talk about the real problems in our schools, such as funding cuts and class sizes. She chose not to. This speech chases tabloid headlines but it does not offer any coherent or joined up vision for education or a positive future for our children.

Many people at the Conservative party conference are school governors and local councillors. They set budgets that donā€™t add up. They witness families wait months for learning support their children are entitled to ā€¦

The slurs about hard-working teachers in this speech are shocking. Teachers already follow the law on impartiality in teaching. Parents can already see what their children learn and have high respect for the teachers they know. Forcing schools to hand over every worksheet on demand would bury teachers in paperwork."
[Post edited 6 Oct 17:13]
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:09 - Oct 6 with 1798 viewseireblue

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:04 - Oct 6 by DJR

She'd have got a rougher ride from him if she were Diane Abbott .

More generally, a lot of what the shadow Ministers have said this last day or so is depressingly simplistic.

The paranoid rant against the teaching profession by the Education spokesman was probably the low because it bears no relation to my daughter's experience as a teacher.

Here's a flavour.

"Weā€™ll properly enforce the rules on political impartiality for teachers and guest speakers.

And weā€™ll create a specific law around trade unions involved in education.

They must not bring politics into schools."

She claimed that pupils were being exposed to unsuitable ideas in the classroom.

"Children as young as seven are being told they have white privilege.

Pupils are learning that a woman can have a penis, a man can be pregnant, and sex is assigned at birth.

Some have been told to rewrite negative headlines on migration to make them more positive.

And others have been taught that Britain is a racist country.

This is fiction being presented as fact ā€¦.

This is part of a trend of complex, controversial, contested issues being boiled down, laced with political bias and delivered in a place that children trust; schools."

EDIT: this was the NEU's response.

"This was such a disappointing and cheap speech ill befitting a politician wanting to by secretary of state for education. Laura Trott had the chance today to talk about the real problems in our schools, such as funding cuts and class sizes. She chose not to. This speech chases tabloid headlines but it does not offer any coherent or joined up vision for education or a positive future for our children.

Many people at the Conservative party conference are school governors and local councillors. They set budgets that donā€™t add up. They witness families wait months for learning support their children are entitled to ā€¦

The slurs about hard-working teachers in this speech are shocking. Teachers already follow the law on impartiality in teaching. Parents can already see what their children learn and have high respect for the teachers they know. Forcing schools to hand over every worksheet on demand would bury teachers in paperwork."
[Post edited 6 Oct 17:13]


I bet they are opposed to locating all schools within a 15 minute city as well.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:14 - Oct 6 with 1764 viewsBlueBadger

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:09 - Oct 6 by eireblue

I bet they are opposed to locating all schools within a 15 minute city as well.


A venn diagram of people who are opposed to 15 minute cities and people who post those 'village green, local butcher and no non-white people' nostalgia memes isn't quite a single circle, but it's sure as hell not far off.

I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
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1
Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:17 - Oct 6 with 1734 viewseireblue

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:03 - Oct 6 by Kievthegreat

The whole thing is a bit of a joke. It's a pretty nothingy policy statement dressed up as revolutionary with a name like Britannia Shield.

Essentially the Tories proposal is integrated air defence and early warnings. Which we've had in some form since the 1930s. They've made comparisons of this "Britannia Shield" to Israel's Iron Dome, plucked some numbers out of thin air, so we could do it for a fraction of cost, over a larger area of geographic coverage.

They aren't really proposing any revolutionary tech. Nor articulating a particularly impressive plan. Also really not helped by Kemi showing she has no clue* what she's talking about and fumbling through cluelessly. Defence is one of those areas where I don't want politicians grandstanding about their fantastic idea and attaching political capital to their pet projects. I'd much rather the armed forces decide on defence projects based on practical considerations rather than electoral.

*I don't expect her to be educating Ferrari on different types of interceptors, exact numbers of launch platforms, and real nitty gritty detail. However I do expect her to sound like she didn't just read a 3 line memo this morning and then blagging her way through it like a teenager who didn't do their homework.


I think you are being a bit harsh on Kemi, if she had repeatedly claimed to have an analytical background in systems engineering that shaped her political policy making then you would have a poiā€¦ā€¦ohā€¦.yesā€¦I seeā€¦.that is a bit awkwardā€¦.šŸ˜¬
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:18 - Oct 6 with 1733 viewsDubtractor

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:04 - Oct 6 by DJR

She'd have got a rougher ride from him if she were Diane Abbott .

More generally, a lot of what the shadow Ministers have said this last day or so is depressingly simplistic.

The paranoid rant against the teaching profession by the Education spokesman was probably the low because it bears no relation to my daughter's experience as a teacher.

Here's a flavour.

"Weā€™ll properly enforce the rules on political impartiality for teachers and guest speakers.

And weā€™ll create a specific law around trade unions involved in education.

They must not bring politics into schools."

She claimed that pupils were being exposed to unsuitable ideas in the classroom.

"Children as young as seven are being told they have white privilege.

Pupils are learning that a woman can have a penis, a man can be pregnant, and sex is assigned at birth.

Some have been told to rewrite negative headlines on migration to make them more positive.

And others have been taught that Britain is a racist country.

This is fiction being presented as fact ā€¦.

This is part of a trend of complex, controversial, contested issues being boiled down, laced with political bias and delivered in a place that children trust; schools."

EDIT: this was the NEU's response.

"This was such a disappointing and cheap speech ill befitting a politician wanting to by secretary of state for education. Laura Trott had the chance today to talk about the real problems in our schools, such as funding cuts and class sizes. She chose not to. This speech chases tabloid headlines but it does not offer any coherent or joined up vision for education or a positive future for our children.

Many people at the Conservative party conference are school governors and local councillors. They set budgets that donā€™t add up. They witness families wait months for learning support their children are entitled to ā€¦

The slurs about hard-working teachers in this speech are shocking. Teachers already follow the law on impartiality in teaching. Parents can already see what their children learn and have high respect for the teachers they know. Forcing schools to hand over every worksheet on demand would bury teachers in paperwork."
[Post edited 6 Oct 17:13]


Really grim stuff.

They are trying so hard to emulate Reform, but the people who are voting for Reform aren't going to vote for a tribute act.

I would far rather see the Tories as a proper/viable opposition to Labour than the utter mess they are right now.

I was born underwater, I dried out in the sun. I started humping volcanoes baby, when I was too young.
Poll: Are we gonna win tomorrow then?

5
Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:27 - Oct 6 with 1691 viewsbenrhyddingblue

Thatā€™s impressive, but not in any positive way. This was their big announcement today and she sounds like a sixth former who didnā€™t do any revision for the latest test because she thinks she didnā€™t have to. There really is very low bar in British politics nowadays, which really is worrying for the country.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing some people on 17:28 - Oct 6 with 1672 viewsJ2BLUE

All political parties have an open goal to make some progress on the triple lock issue but she is saying they would not change it. The country cannot afford it. This is literally a person/party putting political ambition above what the country needs.

It's indefensible. Like the Tories reducing national insurance as an attempted bribe or to handicap the incoming Labour government. It really pisses me off.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 17:40 - Oct 6 with 1589 viewsDJR

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:18 - Oct 6 by Dubtractor

Really grim stuff.

They are trying so hard to emulate Reform, but the people who are voting for Reform aren't going to vote for a tribute act.

I would far rather see the Tories as a proper/viable opposition to Labour than the utter mess they are right now.


Badenoch is better than she was but she lacks gravitas, is a bit too smug and comes across to me as no better than someone involved in student politics.
[Post edited 6 Oct 17:43]
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 19:29 - Oct 6 with 1276 viewsBlueBadger

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 17:40 - Oct 6 by DJR

Badenoch is better than she was but she lacks gravitas, is a bit too smug and comes across to me as no better than someone involved in student politics.
[Post edited 6 Oct 17:43]


She's a slightly more polished, right wing version of Zack Polanski. Looks good at a shallow read, is reasonably competent when speaking in public if it's very controlled and there's no serious scrutiny but gets caught out somewhat when someone actually takes her on. Even when Starmer was at his most beleaguered she rarely got the better of him.
[Post edited 6 Oct 22:26]

I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
Poll: How did you do the England game?
Blog: From Despair to Where?

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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 19:44 - Oct 6 with 1225 viewshomer_123

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 19:29 - Oct 6 by BlueBadger

She's a slightly more polished, right wing version of Zack Polanski. Looks good at a shallow read, is reasonably competent when speaking in public if it's very controlled and there's no serious scrutiny but gets caught out somewhat when someone actually takes her on. Even when Starmer was at his most beleaguered she rarely got the better of him.
[Post edited 6 Oct 22:26]


I didn't think it was possible to polish a ....

Ade Akinbiyi couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo...
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing some people on 19:46 - Oct 6 with 1225 viewsDJR

This from John Crace is good.

ā€œStop calling it an Iron Dome,ā€ Kemi dead-panned. She really is a comedy pro. Even at 8.10am sheā€™s still in role. ā€œIt isnā€™t an Iron Dome. Iā€™ve never called it an Iron Dome. Itā€™s a Britannia Shield.ā€ Genius. She couldnā€™t think for the life of her why everyone was calling it an Iron Dome. Mmm. It might have been something to do with the Tory press office releasing a statement calling it an Iron Dome? And the opinion piece in the Sun, written by Kemi herself, calling it an Iron Dome? There are clearly a lot of replicant Kemis rushing around pretending to be the real one.

OK, OK, weā€™ll call it a Britannia Shield, said the radio and TV presenters. Sometimes itā€™s easier to humour a guest. So when was it going to be operational, what would it look like and how much of the UK would it cover? Kemi laughed. She hadnā€™t a clue. She was just the one with the ideas. The details she left for others. But it definitely would be up and running before Penny Mordaunt returned to parliament to reprise her role in Skyā€™s The War Game. As for the shield itself, that would be a few Sopwith Camel biplanes and barrage balloons that could be diverted to Scotland at a fortnightā€™s notice if required.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 19:47 - Oct 6 with 1212 viewsstonojnr

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people on 17:14 - Oct 6 by BlueBadger

A venn diagram of people who are opposed to 15 minute cities and people who post those 'village green, local butcher and no non-white people' nostalgia memes isn't quite a single circle, but it's sure as hell not far off.


Funnily enough the Venn diagram of people who vote Labour rarely includes people impressed by Tory politicians or policies attached to the Tories.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing some people on 08:58 - Oct 7 with 772 viewsDJR

Given the state of the public finances and public services, hands up those who think cutting inheritance tax is the answer?

Then again, the following probably explains the popular appeal of such a policy, even though only one in 20 estates pay it.*

"Inheritance tax (IHT) s one of the most curious taxes in the Treasuryā€™s armoury. It is one of the most unpopular of all taxes levied by HM Revenue and Customs, with polling showing strong support for getting rid of it entirely, even though most people never pay it."

* The threshold for inheritance tax is Ā£325,000, which means it is not charged on any estates worth less than that. If a home is being given away to children, the threshold rises to Ā£500,000, and for couples the threshold rises to Ā£1m. ā€œSo most people donā€™t go anywhere near the tax,ā€ Helen Miller of the IFS said.
[Post edited 7 Oct 9:05]
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:04 - Oct 7 with 732 viewsbalcombeblue

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 17:40 - Oct 6 by DJR

Badenoch is better than she was but she lacks gravitas, is a bit too smug and comes across to me as no better than someone involved in student politics.
[Post edited 6 Oct 17:43]


A pretty good fit for these times then.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:08 - Oct 7 with 718 viewsDJR

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:04 - Oct 7 by balcombeblue

A pretty good fit for these times then.


Absolutely. One only has to look at the heavyweights in the Blair government and earlier governments of both persuasions.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:14 - Oct 7 with 697 viewsbalcombeblue

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:08 - Oct 7 by DJR

Absolutely. One only has to look at the heavyweights in the Blair government and earlier governments of both persuasions.


Agreed.

I think Cameron was the last to have a depth of serious politicians. This isn't about agreeing with their politics. Hague, May, Osborne, Hammond, Gove, IDS, Clegg, Cable, Ken Clarke (as an MP), Lansley.

Similarly with Brown, Prescott, Straw, Cook, Reid, Blunkett, Short, Darling.

I have a lot of criticism for New Labour, but it's hard to argue that these people weren't serious politicians.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:16 - Oct 7 with 690 viewsBlueBadger

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 19:29 - Oct 6 by BlueBadger

She's a slightly more polished, right wing version of Zack Polanski. Looks good at a shallow read, is reasonably competent when speaking in public if it's very controlled and there's no serious scrutiny but gets caught out somewhat when someone actually takes her on. Even when Starmer was at his most beleaguered she rarely got the better of him.
[Post edited 6 Oct 22:26]


Huh, didn't have DaveU down as someone who liked obvious frauds Kemi and Zack.
[Post edited 7 Oct 9:16]

I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
Poll: How did you do the England game?
Blog: From Despair to Where?

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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:18 - Oct 7 with 687 viewsBlueBadger

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:14 - Oct 7 by balcombeblue

Agreed.

I think Cameron was the last to have a depth of serious politicians. This isn't about agreeing with their politics. Hague, May, Osborne, Hammond, Gove, IDS, Clegg, Cable, Ken Clarke (as an MP), Lansley.

Similarly with Brown, Prescott, Straw, Cook, Reid, Blunkett, Short, Darling.

I have a lot of criticism for New Labour, but it's hard to argue that these people weren't serious politicians.


Having Osborne, Hague and Clegg in that list is like having Lambert and Hurst in a list of 'serious' ITFC managers alongside the likes of Sir Alf, Sir Bobby, Burley, Royle, McCarthy and Mckenna.
[Post edited 7 Oct 9:18]

I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
Poll: How did you do the England game?
Blog: From Despair to Where?

0
Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:27 - Oct 7 with 656 viewsDJR

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:14 - Oct 7 by balcombeblue

Agreed.

I think Cameron was the last to have a depth of serious politicians. This isn't about agreeing with their politics. Hague, May, Osborne, Hammond, Gove, IDS, Clegg, Cable, Ken Clarke (as an MP), Lansley.

Similarly with Brown, Prescott, Straw, Cook, Reid, Blunkett, Short, Darling.

I have a lot of criticism for New Labour, but it's hard to argue that these people weren't serious politicians.


Cameron's certainly had a bit more gravitas but despite being very clever, he was pretty lazy* and in my view let some pretty hopeless characters have far too much free rein.

"Failing Grayling" springs to mind, but the Lansley reforms turned out to be a disaster and were later reversed.

https://www.newstatesman.com/s

*A friend of mine attended a gathering at No.10 at which Cameron was meant to be present only to find that he was off playing tennis.

EDIT: I came across the following in an article on the Lansley reforms by the King's Fund.

"Itā€™s clear that one of the issues in 2011 was that Number 10 didnā€™t really understand what the Bill was intended to do, and therefore hadnā€™t clocked the potential political issues. This was partly a result of the style of Number 10 at that time, with the Prime Minister in much more of chairman of the board role than a chief executive, leaving a lot of freedom to departmental Secretaries of State."

[Post edited 7 Oct 9:31]
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:31 - Oct 7 with 628 viewsbalcombeblue

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:27 - Oct 7 by DJR

Cameron's certainly had a bit more gravitas but despite being very clever, he was pretty lazy* and in my view let some pretty hopeless characters have far too much free rein.

"Failing Grayling" springs to mind, but the Lansley reforms turned out to be a disaster and were later reversed.

https://www.newstatesman.com/s

*A friend of mine attended a gathering at No.10 at which Cameron was meant to be present only to find that he was off playing tennis.

EDIT: I came across the following in an article on the Lansley reforms by the King's Fund.

"Itā€™s clear that one of the issues in 2011 was that Number 10 didnā€™t really understand what the Bill was intended to do, and therefore hadnā€™t clocked the potential political issues. This was partly a result of the style of Number 10 at that time, with the Prime Minister in much more of chairman of the board role than a chief executive, leaving a lot of freedom to departmental Secretaries of State."

[Post edited 7 Oct 9:31]


We're not arguing about politics though, more the seriousness of the people.

Prescott and Blunkett had their own failures, but they were at least recognisable and authentic.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:33 - Oct 7 with 608 viewsbalcombeblue

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:18 - Oct 7 by BlueBadger

Having Osborne, Hague and Clegg in that list is like having Lambert and Hurst in a list of 'serious' ITFC managers alongside the likes of Sir Alf, Sir Bobby, Burley, Royle, McCarthy and Mckenna.
[Post edited 7 Oct 9:18]


Away from policy, Hague is a good speaker, intellectual historian and serious parliamentarian. Blair in particular was very respectful of his intellect.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing some people on 09:35 - Oct 7 with 600 viewsCotty

She either doesn't give a $hit about the details, or she has heard them and doesn't understand them. Honestly, listening to her over the years, she just doesn't come across as being particularly bright.
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Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:46 - Oct 7 with 565 viewsBlueBadger

Kemi Badenoch is supposedly impressing sone people (n/t) on 09:27 - Oct 7 by DJR

Cameron's certainly had a bit more gravitas but despite being very clever, he was pretty lazy* and in my view let some pretty hopeless characters have far too much free rein.

"Failing Grayling" springs to mind, but the Lansley reforms turned out to be a disaster and were later reversed.

https://www.newstatesman.com/s

*A friend of mine attended a gathering at No.10 at which Cameron was meant to be present only to find that he was off playing tennis.

EDIT: I came across the following in an article on the Lansley reforms by the King's Fund.

"Itā€™s clear that one of the issues in 2011 was that Number 10 didnā€™t really understand what the Bill was intended to do, and therefore hadnā€™t clocked the potential political issues. This was partly a result of the style of Number 10 at that time, with the Prime Minister in much more of chairman of the board role than a chief executive, leaving a lot of freedom to departmental Secretaries of State."

[Post edited 7 Oct 9:31]


Gove with his disastrous education reforms was another one from that time as well. How the hell he managed to keep getting cabinet roles for as long as he did is a major head scratcher.
[Post edited 7 Oct 10:12]

I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
Poll: How did you do the England game?
Blog: From Despair to Where?

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