I do wish the idiots in this shambolic government would stop treating the electorate like cretins who’ll swallow any outrageous lie they tell. I’m talking about the 24 hours in which Rachel Reeves went from full on blubbing mode at PMQs, where she looked like her world had ended, to a day later where she bounced in front of TV cameras at the launch of the NHS’s 10-year health plan with a smile pasted on so tight it looked like it had been stuck on with Gorilla glue.
It never moved – not even when she was talking. In fact, far from looking like someone with a “serious personal issue”, Reeves looked like she’d just won EuroMillions. When asked if she was okay, she breezily said: “Today’s a new day and I’m cracking on with the job.” (what of destroying the economy?). “The difference between my job and many viewers is that when I’m having a tough day it’s on the telly. Most people don’t have to deal with that.”
Yes, but most people aren’t the Chancellor of the Exchequer in charge of the second highest office in the land, an office she shamed with her tears. I don’t care whether it was a personal issue or to do with politics, Reeves shouldn’t have cried. Either that or she shouldn’t have gone into the Commons chamber.
And if it WAS personal, she should have dealt with it and got on with her job. Let’s not forget this woman is no softie. She’s consumed by power and personal ambition; she clawed her way up the political ladder till she got the job she craved.
Hell, she even lied on her CV to get it. On top of that, she’s spent her entire time in office bragging about being the first ever female chancellor. Yet now we’re supposed to make allowances for her because she’s a woman under stress who needs a cup of tea and a hug (one female journalist actually said that).
What Reeves did in weeping has made life one hell of a lot harder for every woman in a top job, because it confirms the convenient stereotype (for some men) that they’re just not up to it and cry when the going gets tough.
But Reeves’ blubbing came with serious consequences – the markets were spooked, the pound fell against the dollar, borrowing costs went up and there was a £3billion market sell off.
As for citing “personal reasons” for her tears – I’m not buying it. That display was about a woman who’s lost it, who isn’t up to her job, who’s so totally out of her depth that she’s fast bankrupting this country and has no idea what to do about it.
Did I feel sorry for her when I saw her tears? Yes, for a few seconds. But I feel a damn sight sorrier for the people whose lives she’s ruined with her inane policies.
I feel sorrier for the farmer who took his own life because of her Inheritance Tax, for the pensioners she terrified by taking away their Winter Fuel Allowance, for the business owners who are going under thanks to her NI rises.
And just to make US all weep, the idiot Starmer has said Reeves’ job is safe as long as he’s in No. 10 – which shows how little he cares for this country that he’s prepared to sacrifice it for her.
However, that also gives me hope because after his embarrassing capitulation over the Welfare Bill where he lost every ounce of credibility, he’s now been put on notice that, if things don’t improve before the local May elections, he’s a goner. As Reeves will be.
But what’s terrifying is that we’re being led by a government that literally can’t lead, that is incompetent beyond measure, that inherited the fastest growing economy in the G7 – and trashed it, that has made a £40billion tax raid with more to come, that has made countless U-turns because of its disastrous polices. On top of all that, we have a national debt of £2.8trillion and a welfare bill that was £313billion at the last count… and rising.
And Rachel Reeves has played a leading role in that catalogue of disaster. So no, I don’t feel sorry for her. I feel sorry for us.