Kemi Badenoch: 'Double amputees run marathons' | James O'Brien reacts

Hey, I'm Kemi Badenoch. I don't commit gaffes. I'm here to tell people with ADHD that they should look at disabled people running marathons and try harder not to have ADHD. What is she saying? Double amputees run marathons. People with autism run some of the biggest tech companies in the world. This isn't just a horribly crass and I would say cruel intervention. It's ignorant on a level that is rare in politics. It's rare in life. If you tell a young person that their ADHD means they are defective and that they can't do anything, that is likely to be more damaging to their future than the condition itself. It's just such a bovine argument. But it's also a dangerous one. This idea that you can somehow... Think and believe that you're going to make people feel better about something by telling them about something completely different and using it almost as a stick to beat them with. And then lo and behold, I heard this clip on Nick's show this morning. Double amputees run marathons. People who are housebound do wonderful creative work from home. People with autism run some of the biggest tech companies in the world. If you tell a young person that their ADHD means they are defective and that they can't do anything, that is likely to be more damaging to their future than the condition itself. Right. I mean, I've tried to find out what Kemi Badenoch's qualifications are to pronounce in this field, and I can tell you that she describes herself as an engineer, and she briefly worked in IT before going to go and work on the website of the Spectator newspaper. That's it. That's it. So I don't know where she gets these insights into young people with ADHD or indeed people on disability benefits in general, but she knows what's best for them and what's best for somebody who is too crippled with anxiety at the moment to leave the house. What's best is to point out to them that people with no legs can run marathons. Have another listen to this. I think this is... And I worry I'm being too kind to Cammy Badenoch, actually, because, you know, I mean, I suppose it's worth pointing out that you can be, you can become leader of His Majesty's opposition and quite possibly, even perhaps, probably prime minister of this country, despite being as daft as this. People ask me what difference new leadership will make. Well, take a look at President Trump. He's shown that sometimes you need that first stint in government to spot the problems, but it's the second time around when you really know how to fix them. Sorry, what, pardon? So, anyway, self-reflection, obviously not her thing, and thank goodness she never makes gaffes. How do we know that? Because she told us. So you can be as daft as a brush and still become leader of His Majesty's opposition. Transcription But how helpful is it to tell children in particular who have ADHD that, as we've discussed many, many times on this programme, is a life-changing and debilitating condition by that can be improved and alleviated with help and support? CastingWords How helpful is this, do you think? Double amputees run marathons. People who are housebound do wonderful creative work from home. People with autism run some of the biggest tech companies in the world. If you tell a young person that their ADHD means they are defective and that they can't do anything, that is likely to be more damaging to their future than the condition itself. OK, so is she saying we should take away the prosthetic limbs from the amputees that are running marathons? Because this speech was given as part of a justification for removing... ...support from young people with ADHD. Does she understand that for a double amputee to run a marathon, they would need prosthetic limbs or a wheelchair or whatever else would be ideally provided by the state? Does she even understand how stupid her own position is on this issue? But is it toxic positivity? It's worse things happen at sea territory, this, isn't it? It's worse things happen at sea. I want to talk about this. Not because Cammy Badenoch has, once again, definitely not committed any sort of gaffe. And not because this narrative about the welfare bill being out of control or having ballooned is completely at odds, completely and utterly at odds with observable reality. This is going to become my new thing, by the way. I'm not getting rid of the old thing. The old thing is telling you that because... The coalition of right-wing politicians and client journalists remain so powerful in this country. Immigration is going to reach incredibly, historically low levels, and everybody is still going to go on about immigration being the root of all of our problems. It's a lie, and it becomes an even bigger lie as those numbers come down. And, spoiler alert, your life doesn't improve. So that's not going away. That's the old thing. The new thing is the claim that our welfare bill has become unsustainable. The claim that there are so many people now swinging the lead or taking the mickey or getting money they don't deserve. That's the real reason. It wasn't the immigrants after all, mate. Sorry. I know I told you it was the immigrants. That's why you can't get a council house or your kids can't go to the school that they want to go to. It's all about the immigrants. It wasn't the immigrants. Turns out it wasn't the immigrants. We got rid of all the immigrants. It's the kids with ADHD. Yeah. It's the disabled. It's them. It was them all along. It's the blooming welfare. It's the people getting welfare. Don't mention the percentage of GDP made up of the welfare bill. Because if you mention that, the whole argument falls apart. The entire argument falls to pieces. If you mention that. About 10.7 at the moment. Always has been. Other countries, way higher. Some Scandinavian countries, two, three times as much as we pay. And the massive majority of what we pay, or the big majority of what we pay on the welfare bill altogether now, old age pensions. But hey, I'm Kemi Badenot. I don't commit gaffes. I'm here to tell people with ADHD that they should look at disabled people running marathons and try harder. Not to have ADHD. What is she saying? What is she saying? Do you know what she's saying? I don't know what she's... Should we listen to it again? See if we can work out what she's actually saying? Double amputees run marathons. People who are housebound do wonderful creative work from home. People with autism run some of the biggest tech companies in the world. If you tell a young person that their ADHD means they are defective and that they can't do anything, that is likely to be more damaging to their future than the condition itself. I think I can help here. I think what happens is children are told that they are defective and they can't do anything before they get an ADHD diagnosis. Children are called disruptive or naughty or unreliable or chaotic. Before they get an ADHD diagnosis, because those children are treated as if they are choosing to be in trouble. They are choosing to be disobedient. They are choosing to fidget. They're choosing to not be able to concentrate. Male and female ADHD, by the way, present very, very differently. And I need a little bit more help understanding the female side of the condition, but not as much help as Kemi Flippin-Badenock needs. I'll tell you that for absolutely free. So this isn't just a horribly crass... And I would say cruel intervention. It's ignorant on a level that is rare in politics. It's rare in life to encounter ignorance on this level, let alone in politics, because everything she is saying about children with ADHD is what happens before they get the diagnosis and the support that they need. She is literally describing the pre-diagnosis experience of children with ADHD. While not realising that disabled people running marathons, double amputees running marathons, get enormous amounts of help and support to run marathons. Why can't you be more like those people over there with prosthetic limbs and welfare payments? Disability benefit... Well, hang on a minute. You're telling me that I don't need any help or support by comparing me to somebody who gets lots. Do you see what I mean? I hesitate to use the word thick too much on the programme, but... My goodness me, there is a level of ignorance at play here that would be hilarious if the subject matter wasn't so heartbreakingly serious. So, point one, she is literally making the precise opposite point of the point that she thinks that she's making. It is... Pre-diagnosis children who are told all of the things that she thinks post-diagnosis children are told, post-diagnosis children are told that their ADHD can be a superpower or that their ADHD doesn't need to hold them back or that they are not inferior, they are different and therefore they need a little bit of help navigating a system that is designed for people who are neurotypical as opposed to neurodivergent. Do you think she even knows these words? For an engineer? For an engineer? She's pretty bad on the technical detail, isn't she? But thank goodness she never makes gaps. So, not only is she making precisely the opposite point to the one that she thinks she's making, but she's making it in a way that makes her look incredibly stupid. Now, stupid is as stupid does. That's not an opinion. That's quoting Forrest Gump. Stupid is as stupid does. So whether or not now, and they will watch this clip at Conservative HQ, whether or not now she realises that she's been incredibly stupid and therefore changes her point and realises that she's actually talking about the children before they get a diagnosis who are more likely to be told that they are defective or that they are useless. But she's also comparing them to people who get loads of help and support from all sorts of sources, and Bloomingwell should do too. Bloomingwell should do too. Oh, we're disabled. Double amputees can run marathons. Yeah, what, right, you think with no help or support? They made their own prosthetic limbs out of Lego? Or they just found them in a skip around the back of Tesco's? It's just such a bovine argument. But it's also a dangerous one. It's also a dangerous one.