Pity poor Philip Hammond. Between being very upset that gay couples are allowed to marry and refusing to apologise for the failure for authorities to help flooded residents in Berkshire quickly enough, he’s got a lot of things to busy his mind. So many, it seems, that he can’t tell the difference between two female MPs, even when he’s debating with one of them.
Appearing on BBC’s Question Time, Conservative Philip tried to interrupt Liz Kendall, the Shadow Health Minister, when she was trying to explain why people use food banks. Instead of using her name, he called her Rachel. Immediately, Liz knew that Philip had confused her with Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. She snapped back ‘It's Liz Kendall not Rachel Reeves.’, to which Philip mumbled ‘Yes, sorry’
Liz then said: ‘I know we all look the same’ to cheers from the audience in Swindon.
Yeah, we’ll admit that they both have brown hair and brown eyes, and Liz knew who he meant when he said ‘Rachel’, but surely Phillip should know who he’s debating with on live national television? It’s not a school debate. And he’s the Defence Secretary! He should probably have his head screwed on a bit better than that. And what was his defence, in this instance? To have a little giggle.
Perhaps that's another reason behind all those polls that say women are fed up of the Tories.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.