Javier Milei has taken a chainsaw to the Argentinian state and caused poverty to soar to over 50%
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has made another astonishing statement, saying that she wants to be like far-right Argentinian President Javier Milei.
Badenoch said in an interview with the Financial Times that she would use Milei as “the template” to renew her flagging party and the UK.
In the interview, she was asked whether Britain needs a Milei, and whether she was such a politician. She replied: “Yes and yes”.
This isn’t the first time the Tory leader has heaped praise on the right-wing populist, who has been nicknamed ‘El Loco’ (the Madman) for his erratic behaviour.
In January, she also praised Trump-loving libertarian, Milei, for taking a “deep chainsaw” to regulations.
What she doesn’t mention is that in the first year of his presidency, Milei caused poverty to soar. While it was already high (at around 41.7%) due to inflation, by December 2024, figures showed that nearly 53% of Argentina’s 45 million people were living in poverty just one year into his presidency.
Milei, who brandished a chainsaw during his presidential campaign as a symbol of his plan to slash public spending, cut the number of ministries from 18 to 8, and fired 37,000 government workers in his first year.
In a further assault on workers, he weakened employment laws to make firing and hiring easier and also reduced severance pay for workers.
He has also previously advocated for legalising the sale of human organs and abolishing Argentina’s central bank.
And this, apparently, is Badenoch’s idea of a political role model. Not only that, Liz Truss, the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister, recently said Milei was her favourite Conservative leader after Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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