YouSaid · the spoken record

Liz Kendall

lines on the record: 50
first: 2024-07-26
most recent: 2024-07-26
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Amongst politicians, journalists who contacted me, members of the public, people have gone through all of these struggles that nobody had known about they didn't feel they could talk about it. IVF, adoption, miscarriages, and, you know, men too, who felt they couldn't talk about it at work. And it is such an issue and struggle. And I think, you know, you don't my mum always said this to me. You don't know what's going on in somebody else's life or their relationship and it is better to keep your mouth shut and just show understanding and I think that's wise advice as ever from Susan Kendall.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I just that's a terrible thing to say and You know what nobody knows what is going on. You know, you don't know what they're facing, you don't know whether it's a choice, you don't know if it's a sadness. And I think nobody should talk like that because they've no idea what's going on. And one of the things that was when obviously I announced I was going to have a baby one of the things what was incredible was a sort of actually a tsunami of actually a lot of pain and distress and sorrow.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, it really does I wasn't sure because you have to immediately switch off. I mean, look, look, there's the physical nature of politics and a job. You have to be physically strong. And, you know, I've also just... Had a hip replacement, so had to recover from that. But it's also mentally tiring, but I actually find being a mum and all the excitement, it makes my brain switch off anything. That's why I loved exercise so much, actually, and why I used to love running, is your brain has to switch off. That is my most exhausting thing, is my own brain. So with Henry. It's gardening or whatever it is we're doing is so, I have to switch off from thinking about, you know, the future of welfare reform.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So I mean, it was probably not the best idea of mine ever to start potty training in the first two weeks in government. Let's put that aside. It's amazing. It is a... It's a strangely sort of liberating Because I'm learning so much, it's such fun. Don't get me wrong, you know, we have our moments, but he's funny. I can be funny, you know, what I wouldn't do to make him laugh. I mean, thank goodness there's not cameras at home. It's a wonderful, you know, you use your imagination, you know, this job is a passion and logic. I mean, there's no point with the logic, you know. You've got to think of different things and it's exciting and it's just wonderful.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Let's not lump every. Look, this is again, don't lump everybody who feels strongly about Gaza into the same boxes. That's not you. There are some people who have intimidated. Many others who just want to know that we want things to change. It's so easy putting people in boxes. That's not who people are. This is what I mean is I am worried about my city. We've worked hard to try and be one Leicester where we are many different faiths, but we try and say, look, there are things we haven't come. I've come from a Methodist background, but I look at my Sikh Gudwara. And the Langar, the kitchen that gives out food and support, including to the homeless, really during COVID, a sense of duty in giving back was in my faith that I grew up in, and it's in the Sikh faith. And I want us to focus on that.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“This issue of Gaza It's about I don't believe in telling voters that they're wrong or that they should think something different. So maybe colleagues see this about intimidation.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That it's not just a line to say you never take voters' support for granted. I mean, if I think back to... The last two elections, I have a predominantly white working class seat in Leicester and Brexit plus Jeremy Corbyn was a huge problem for us and colleagues in Leicester East and Leicester South had much bigger majorities. Things have changed very, very quickly. I mean, it's not just a line that you can't take people's support for granted.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, I'm actually not driven by that. I'm driven by the facts and the reality, which is Alan's report show, seven in ten of those people want to work. I mean, why are we slagging people off saying they must work when they're saying we want to? So that's not how I do it. But I think this point about the values that people share and try to increase understanding, not heighten aggression is where my politics is, even though I feel very passionately myself about issues.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, if we don't deal with this issue, we're in financial difficulty. I mean, the OBR says this increase in economic inactivity is one of the biggest things holding back growth, put simply. Businesses don't have the people to employ. It's also what is harming people's living standards. And ultimately, it's about showing that we that there are values that we share. It's been quite interesting over the last decade, this sort of very divisive doubling down politics that's been the big shift, I think, in my last 10 years as an MP. That's not how I want to do it. I want to find things that we have in common. But there's a process.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Get it wrong. If we keep doing the same thing. Tour is, we're going to get the same result. We've got to try something different. We need evidence, but you've also got to experiment in order to get that evidence. So there's going to be a pilot in Barnsley for this work. Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester. They've done some incredible things. They've commissioned a new talking therapies service for people who are looking for work, completely different, such fantastic work by them. I want to see that happen because that's the only way we're going to get things right.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Big cities and elsewhere. They will be taking the lead in this drive to tackle economic activity and unleash opportunity also on our youth guarantee. And I tell you why. So I know in my city what my challenges are. The reason, the primary reason driving economic inactivity in Leicester is actually caring for a family member. We have many multi-generational households, parents where we're lacking childcare. Whereas in Barnsley, where I was this week in the speech, there's lots more problems around long-term sickness.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, what I'm arguing is what the focus I have got is on more help and support. Conditions in the system to engage with them, to take jobs when they're offered, and consequences if you don't, they will remain. What I'm saying we need to focus more on is that health joined up support, health, education, skills, childcare. There's another big change though too, which is we, I mean, I hope you will come onto it, which is that's got to be driven locally. And that is as big a change for the DWP as joining up the health and services.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think that the conditions have always been part of the social security system since it was originally created. And as we look at how we encourage and support more people into work, that's going to be really, really important. This idea, though, that you're sort of under constant attack and that you're blamed, I think that is a huge problem. I mean, if you go to people. So we've got a big”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You reduce that risk. And I think that's a really important idea, which is how do we open up a system so more people feel able to come forward, that they know they'll get the right help and support. And that's a really big change, not just in the structure, which I've talked about, joining services up, but about the culture.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“They would like a job if they could find something that met their family circumstances or with the right skill and they have the right skills seven in ten. But currently the system does write them off. He also talks about a really important point, which is that lots of people Sort of terrified of trying to take work because if it doesn't work out they're worried they'll lose their benefits and so one of the big things we've said we want to see is this sort of interwork guarantee which is if you go into work it doesn't work out within a year you can then go back onto your benefits without going through the system all over again”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“There is definitely a problem about people being written off where with the right help and support and confidence They could be supported into work. So the really interesting thing about his report where they actually spoke to the people defined as economically inactive in Barnesley in South Yorkshire. That's right. Seven out of ten said,”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“If the Conservatives had helped people, why have we got a record 2.8 million people out of work due to long-term sickness? One in eight of all young people not in education, employment and or training. And why do we have a situation where only one in six people, low-paid workers, ever escapes low pay? If their policies had worked, if their approach had worked, Nick, we'd have died and gone to heaven.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Why would you have those headlines? I don't believe in politics by headlines. I believe in getting on and dealing with the problems.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. But we have What I like to say is, you know, there's a of all working age people now, one in five. not in the workplace. They are, the term is economically inactive. I say they're the hidden unemployed. That is dreadful for them, for their incomes and life chances, is terrible for businesses who are desperate to recruit, and it's bad for the taxpayer too. And the reason we're in this situation is the whole system has set up, is not set up to deal with that. And I also believe that The sort of divisive and derogatory rhetoric about strivers versus scroungers, or, you know, my predecessor said it was just people who felt too bluesy to work. What that's done is written people off.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Have ever been to one, and that seems to me crazy, so we need big change in order to put that right, and I think the idea that welfare reform is about benefits alone is not matched by the reality on the ground. My vision of welfare reform is a big fundamental reform to join up the services and support across government number one. And number two is to push down that power to make those decisions locally. That's why I was in Barnsley. I was in Barnsley. This is why you get the speeches. Where I gave the speech.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And the department is and job centres are not set up to deal with that. And if you think about what there is no doubt that the benefit system has an important role to play in encouraging or disincentivizing work, but there are many other things that have an impact, your physical health, your mental health, your skills, whether there's transport, whether there's childcare, what kind of employment sport, what are the jobs available locally. And one of the worst statistics we've got is one in five people who want a job, only one in five people who are looking for a job use a job centre, and only one in six employers, businesses.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The current system that we have, the DWP, Job Centres and other employment support, I think it's almost entirely set up to deal with the problems of yesterday, not today, tomorrow and beyond, which is that it's very much a department that is focused on implementing universal credit, assessing and monitoring benefits, and all about the challenge of unemployment. Now, unemployment, we want that to remain low. You know, we are a party that was forged out of the fight against unemployment. But the problems, the big problem and challenge we face today are increasing numbers of people locked out of the workforce, driven by sickness, physical and mental health problems. What is known as economic inactivity?”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think it's right and it's moral to tackle child poverty, but the way that you do it, the serious way you do it is by having a serious plan. You know there are so many individual things, problems, issues that we've hated that the Tories have done, that we never would have done, and that we desperately need to put right, but we cannot do them all at once, and I think most of your listeners will understand you can't do everything at once and overnight.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Made you a promise. The king speech is how we're going to deliver that promise, and I think that that's why the decision was taken.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“This was the first King's speech of the first Labour government for fourteen years. And I think that was right to say. This is a huge agenda for a new government, and you were elected on the manifesto that the British public overwhelmingly voted for. And at the heart of that the reason Rachel Reeves talks about the pages at the back of the manifesto, the grey pages where everything was fully costed and fully funded, that's not just a line, it's what we actually believe. And we believe it not only because the British public wants us to say how we're going to spend things, but because it's how we keep the stability in our economy. We desperately need those MPs knew that. It was part of the manifesto. They voted with the SMP and others. This was a really important moment for us to say to the public.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Wait and see. The child poverty strategy as a whole, publishing that and making it public is going to take longer than the budget.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, the first step is we've setting up this cross-government task force because we believe it genuinely is a cross-government effort. We will have it backed up by a new child poverty unit in the Cabinet Office, and we will be going out around the country talking to campaigners, experts, children and families. This won't happen overnight, but we made a start. And I think it's really important that not only MPs but the public sees we're going to do this a proper strategy, properly thought through in the right timeframe.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Actually, you know what? 70% who have children who are growing up in poverty are in a household where somebody works. So that is why we've said we will look at all the levers we've got, including household income, but we've also got to look at how we make work pay, how we get decent childcare, how we make sure that we tackle the bills that people have by building more homes, trying to have, you know, insulate those homes to keep their bills low. That is our approach. And I think I think the general public understand they are worried about child poverty and my message to them is we're going to make it an absolute priority and tackle it, but we'll have to show how we afford every single step because the last thing I want to do, and this is a much bigger point in politics, I genuinely believe if you make promises that you don't keep, it's what feeds cynicism, distrust in politics, and the populist politics that I think.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Principle could there be a case, but people also really worry about children growing up poor. The fact that it harms their life chances now and in future. So that the main argument that we have made, and I think that that is absolutely right, is that if we're going to make a promise, we've got to show how we fund it.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think the main argument is this that we campaigned as a changed Labour Party that said we'll only make commitments that we know we can meet. They have to be fully costed and fully funded. And this idea that we can be trusted with people's money is really, really important. I think that rather than anything else is the main argument because I think for too long people have worried about us as a Labour Party and Kia and Rachel have busted a gut to say that isn't us anymore. You can trust us with your money. That is the bottom line and that is the argument I think we were making is we hear you. We know all the problems but as I said you know I've got If I think of all of the problems that we've got to deal with, but we can get there step by step.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Suppose, in a way, those principles that we got to be trusted with people's money, we've got to be as passionate about wealth creation as wealth distribution, that we've got to, the first role of any government is to be strong on defence. I'm very proud that Kia has put those at the absolute top of what this party believes in. But honestly, what I really feel is ten wasted years. I think the difference that would make in Leicester in my city. But we're here. And so I'm very much forwards, not back. So we've got to get on with the job.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Thanks for remembering the half. It's really, really important to me. Does that feel better? Yeah, yeah. This is really, really important, that half”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I loved and still do Neil Kinnock, a real hero of mine. And I was shouting at the telly. I was there with my boyfriend and he was just got so fed up and said, you know what? Either do something about it or shut up. And I said, well, I will and joined the Labour Party. And that was it.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, it was. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was after the 1992 election when we lost and I was completely shocked.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, no, I really wasn't. And I wasn't political at university. I mean, I believed we always had. Heated arguments at home over politics, but I wasn't, I didn't get involved in student politics or anything like that. So when's the moment?”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I wasn't there. They thought you were. They thought I was, but I wasn't. I was just had this sense of unfairness and they weren't going to push us around and we were going to work together. And yeah.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was, yeah, TGI Fridays. I was a waitress there. This is before the days of the minimum wage, had a Saturday job. And, you know, I thought people should be having breaks. You know, we were working really, really, really hard, long, long days. Yeah, I was always a bit gobby.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That was my first march for a pedestrian crossing in Abbots Langley High Street, you know, with my mum who was worried about kids crossing school crossing the road, going to school without pedestrian crossing. How old are you?”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think that Values many people share the sense that working hard and providing for yourself and your family gives millions of people a sense of dignity and self-respect. I think that's shared by the public, and I've always believed, you know, the idea that, you know, the Tories try and claim they're the party of work and sound finances. You know, no, that is not, that they are our values. Just remember where the Labour Party came from. Ordinary people coming together to help themselves and one another through trade unions and the cooperative movement. You all pay in, you all get out. It's a sense of responsibility, collective responsibility. And I think that's the difference with Margaret Thatcher. Hers was all about the individual. It's up to you and you alone. But I believe the collective support is what really liberates individuals.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'm not religious, but I really do believe in responsibility. Hard working but also you know compassionate and I would say from my mum this belief in education as the absolute key to transforming your life. That's what they gave me and I was also very lucky to experience it myself with great schools and universities.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He left school at 16 and he started work at the bank and then worked his way up doing his exams there. And it was very much new. My mum was a primary school teacher. Then chair of the governors of my primary school, there was very much this sense that we would do better as a family when our area did better and that we had had Really great opportunities, but you had to work hard and you had to give back and help others. You know, they are a church going family.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, and I'd say, I think it's the responsibility not just of individuals, but of government. I mean, the conservatives, it was all about, you know, attacking the scrounges and, you know, the fetlessness of people when they themselves had failed to act. So I believe strongly in individual and collective responsibility. And that is 100% from my parents.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I do. I think it's about a deal that society does when it works well. And that was what was actually in the original beverage report, you know, rereading it when I was first appointed to the role in opposition. What's striking to me is that firstly he says the benefit system alone will never, you know, end the scourge of unemployment, really poverty. You've got to work with the NHS to get people back on its feet. You've got to have full and fulfilling employment. But he also says there are responsibilities to take up jobs when they're offered, to engage with the system. That's my words, not his. If you go back to that original plan, there's so much still to learn from it, even though the problems now are so very, very different from back then.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I said, oh god, Dennis, I've always think I'm going to be sick when I speak. He said, the best speeches are when your heart and your head are in the same place. And I think that's something I've really learned, especially over the last 10 years since I had my failed attempt to run as Labour leader is people have got to see, they've got to see your heart and your head. And that, I think, is the most powerful way that you persuade people of your strategy for change.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It is about that and much more. That is what I learnt from it. And also, I suppose one of the big things I've learned, not just from that, but from my last 14 years as an MP. And it actually comes back to something Dennis Skinner said to me. I used to get really, really nervous speaking in the chamber.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The lesson I learn is that this is if you are really going to Drive down poverty and drive up equality and opportunity, then it is a cross-government effort. It's about all aspects of government working together to make that happen.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Terrible state of housing in my city. We've got people dying on waiting lists. My council's budget's been cut by a third. Old people without the help they need. So there are so many things we've got to put right. But I know step by step we'll get there.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That is absolutely right because I am probably more passionate about tackling child poverty than anything. I ran a charity, the maternity alliance, before I became an MP when we were putting in place Shorestart and Children's Centres. I know that giving children that very best start in life is crucial for them now, but also for their future life chances. But it takes, you can't turn the page overnight. I understand, I mean, I really understand how strongly people feel. I've got one in three kids in Leicester growing up in poverty, and I've been chairing feeding Leicester, the program to end hunger in the city. I've got schools with food cupboards, our hospital has a food bank for staff and patients, so I know what it's like, but I also know.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It does, but it also, you know, I know what Harriet achieved. My God, she was a powerful champion for change. And if I look at our time in government, we had the first ever national childcare strategy. We had the New Deal for Lone Parents to help them get into work. Family friendly working for the first time, maternity and paternity pay and leave. So I know how tough it was at the beginning, but I also know at the end of our time in office the big changes we put in place, which really was a powerful feminist agenda.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“There's a lot of tough jobs in government. Honestly, I think it is a brilliant job. It touches the lives of millions, millions of people. It needs big change, big reform if it's going to improve people's lives. That will be difficult, but there's so much potential there. So I feel determined and optimistic and very, very lucky to be in the job.”
2024-07-26 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Liz Kendall One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source