The most bizarre remarks from Birmingham this week.
If there’s one thing the Tories are good at, it’s conference blunders. Who can forget Theresa May and the P45 prank, or Boris Johnson’s position being changed to “tw*t” amid a data breach? And the party’s first conference in 14 years as the opposition didn’t disappoint.
Here are some of the maddest comments from Birmingham this week.
“Lock up thousands of civil servants”
It was a close call between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick for the most controversial comments, but Badenoch may have taken the lead with her suggestion that thousands of civil servants should be jailed. The shadow housing secretary faced backlash for saying that between 5 and 10 percent of civil servants are “so bad they belong in prison.”
Maternity support has gone “too far”
Before her civil servant remark, Badenoch had already caused a stir with her views on maternity pay. The MP for North West Essex described statutory maternity pay as “a function of tax” and suggested it was excessive. The comment was made despite the UK having one of the lowest rates of maternity pay among OECD countries. Badenoch didn’t stop there, as she also criticised the minimum wage, claiming it is “harming business.”
Robert Jenrick uses footage of a dead soldier to make bizarre killing claim
Robert Jenrick, the MP for Newark and leadership frontrunner used footage of a soldier who has since died to make a misleading claim about SAS troops killing rather than capturing militants, it is claimed. Fellow leadership contestant Tom Tugendhat, who served with the Special Forces trooper, could barely conceal his anger, describing Jenrick’s allegation as “simply not true.”
Jenrick reveals his daughter’s middle name is Thatcher
Tory delegates are not easily shocked, but Jenrick managed to elicit some gasps from the audience when he revealed his daughter’s middle name is Thatcher. Describing his admiration for the Iron Lady, the leadership contestant said: “She [his daughter] was born the year that Margaret Thatcher died. As you know, I respect strong women. In fact, everyone is female at my house.
“I’ve got three daughters, my wife and two dogs, who are both female. I thought it was a good way of reminding her of a great prime minister.”
Liz Truss’s praise of Argentine leader
No list of bizarre conference moments would be complete without mentioning Liz Truss. Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister lavished praise on Javier Milei, Argentina’s controversial leader. Known as “The Madman,” Milei advocates for legalising the sale of human organs and abolishing the country’s central bank.
“I’m a huge fan of Javier Milei. If Milei was standing in the Conservative leadership election I would back him like a shot. That is absolutely what we need,” Truss enthusiastically told her audience.
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