Webchat with Dr Phillip Lee, LibDem candidate for Wokingham, on Tuesday 3 December at 2pm

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a webchat with Dr Phillip Lee, Liberal Democrat General Election candidate for Wokingham. Phillip will be joining us on Tuesday 3 December at 2pm.

Phillip worked as a doctor at various hospitals in London and the South East before becoming a GP. He continues to practise in Berkshire on a part-time basis.

Elected as the Conservative MP for Bracknell in 2010, he joined Teresa May’s government in 2016 as the Minister for Youth Justice, Victims, Female Offenders and Offender Health. In June 2018 he was the first minister to resign from the government over the direction of Brexit and went on to campaign for a second referendum. In September 2019 Phillip left the Conservative Party and “crossed the floor” in the House of Commons. He now sits as a Liberal Democrat and has been appointed Justice spokesman. Phillip will contest the 2019 General Election as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Wokingham Constituency.

Please do join us on Tuesday at 2pm, but if you can’t make it on the day, leave your question for Phillip on this thread in advance.

As always, please remember our webchat guidelines - one question per user, follow-ups only if there’s time and most questions have been answered, and please keep it civil. Also if one topic is overwhelmingly dominating a discussion with a guest, mods might request that people don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. (We will be taking action on this, including suspending the accounts of MNers who continue to heckle after we've posted to ask people to stop, so please take note.) Rest assured we will ALWAYS let the guest know that it's an area of concern to multiple users and will encourage them to engage with those questions.

Thanks

[bellinisurge]

What are your views on self-ID?

[Lollygaggles]

Do you believe that it is possible to change sex?

[EpicShitDippedBatBiscuit]

What is your definition of a Woman?

[lonelyplanetmum]

Thank you for your courageous and principled departure from the Conservative party.
The influence of the ERG has made it mutate into something very different from the previous ‘one nation’ Conservative party.
Many of the electorate seem oblivious to the extent to which the party has now diverged to the right. How can more voters be made aware of this concerning shift, and do you think more moderate Tories will be able to reclaim the party in the future?

[PencilsInSpace]

Hello, what do you think of the Lib Dem women's declaration?

I can't post a link as it's technically a petition so will be deleted but if you google Liberal Democrats’ Grassroots Challenge to Policy on Women’s Sex Based Rights you will find it.

Signatories do not believe that the natural conflicts between women's sex based rights (as defined in the Equality Act) and self-ID according gender reassignment rights have been explored enough by the Party. They would like the Party to accept that there are differences that must be discussed between the rights of women and transwomen. They believe it is vital that these distinctions and conflicts are discussed in order to avoid a potentially dangerous situation for both women and fully transitioned individuals.

Signatories believe that:

1. Women have the right to discuss policies which affect them free of abuse, harassment or intimidation.
   

1. Women have the right to the preservation of their legally sex-segregated spaces, as laid out in the Equality Act 2010, including female-only spaces such as changing rooms, hospital wards, sanitary and sleeping accommodation, refuges, hostels and prisons.
   

1. Women have the right to take part in single-sex sports, to ensure fairness and safety at all levels of competition.
   

1. Women have the right to organise themselves according to their sex across a range of cultural, leisure, educational and political activities.
   

1. Women have the right to refuse consent to males in single sex spaces or males delivering intimate services to females such as washing, dressing or counselling.
   

1. Women have the right to freedom of belief, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly (Articles 18, 19 and 20 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights).

[Tanith]

Your manifesto for Early Years specifies nurseries and Children's Centres yet makes no mention of childminders, even though they are recognised Early Years childcare and education providers.

Where do childminders fit in to the Liberal Democrat vision of Early Years and how do you propose to stop the haemorrhage of childminders from the sector?

[MatildeHidalgo]

Will you become a full time GP after 12th December?

[EmpressLesbianInChair]

Jo Swinson has declared that she doesn't want votes from anyone who is concerned about women's sex-based rights. Were you aware when you agreed to do the webchat that your party has explicitly told large numbers of Mumsnetters that you don't want our votes?

[TresDesolee]

Hello

Is there anything you can say now about the Conservatives’ policies on the NHS that you couldn’t say while you were a Conservative MP? Do you think NHS drugs prices will go up if we negotiate a trade deal with the USA?

[Byebyebicycle]

Hi Phillip,

How are Lib Dems planning to tackle the recruitment crisis for NHS workers?

[PikesPeaked]

I am a Wokingham voter, and would dearly love to vote for you - even if all it would do would be to reduce John Redwood's majority. But how can I, when your party has declared that they will not recognise my sex-based rights, nor protect children, prisoners, hospital patients, from predatory behaviour?

Jo Swinson has declared the Lib Dem party's support of a faith-based position, and has told non-adherents of that faith not to vote for the Lib Dems. This is incompatible with respecting the rights enshrined in the Equalities Act.

[GlassOfPort]

Hi there,
I am a Labour supporter who would happily vote Lib Dem in a Con/LD marginal.
However, many of my friends would not because "the Lib Dems can't wait to get into another coalition with the Tories". How do I convince them that's not the case?

[crossandperplexed]

Hello
I am a long time LD voter and a retired midwife/nurse. I have worked for my whole career in both hospital and general practice. I voted remain.
I am another biological woman who is very worried about the insistence by Jo Swinson that those who do not believe that humans can change sex are not welcome and should not vote for the Lib Dems.
I am committed to women's sex based rights. Our biology has determined that women have been abused and discriminated against throughout history.
For this reason I can no longer vote Lib Dem.
I have emailed my local candidate and the party HQ. The only response has been that they are too busy to respond to my questions.
Do you agree with Jo Swinson that humans can change sex?
Do you agree with party policy that self ID should be brought in by law so that any man who says he identifies as a woman should be allowed free access to female safe spaces?

[Yaralie]

Please tell us why we should vote LibDem.

I cannot help noticing a large number of posters asking about something which is, to my mind a marginal issue but is perhaps seen by your opponents as a weak link in your manifesto, or a stick to beat you. This happens a lot online but I hope you can counter it with a positive argument for voting to stop Brexit by voting LibDem

[MarleyG17]

Hi Phillip. Thanks for coming on.

My question:

Do you think the LibDems' 'revoke Article 50' policy was a mistake? Would you have personally preferred a second referendum or a soft Brexit?

Thanks

[twigglett99]

I am planning to vote Lib Dem, partly because I feel there is no way I can vote for the other two main parties at the moment and partly because there is a chance we can get the current Tory MP out. My partner will also not consider voting con/lab but is holding back from giving the Lib Dems his vote over the Brexit policy. He is a staunch remainer but feels that it would be undemocratic to make a complete u turn. What would you say to him and others in this position?

[AperolBitch]

I think Jo Swinson is perceived as a bit of a girly swot by many. Do you think her reception has been sexist or do you think the public just isn't warming to her?

[GeordieTerf]

Hi Phillip. Thanks for coming on.

My main concern is self-ID/ women’s rights, but there are already several questions relating to that, so I’ll ask something else.

As an MP, what has been your proudest achievement to date?

[goodygoodyyumyum]

Hi Phillip

Welcome - have some or if you're feeling peckish/thirsty.

Can I ask if you'll be supporting fellow Lib-Dem Siobhan Benita in the London mayoral election, or might you be tempted to back your former Conservative colleague Rory Stewart? Also - as it's Mumsnet - what's your favourite biscuit and why?

[ListeningQuietly]

As a doctor you must know that birth gender is coded into every cell of the body .
Why is your party threatening the safety of women and children
and the sporting achievements of women
by allowing men to call themselves women when it suits them?

[Jux]

I have voted LD in the past to cut the support of my Tory MP who will certainly win again this time. This time, sadly, I am not at all sure I can vote LD. Can you reassure me that what your membership secretary wrote to that MNer telling her that she wasn't wanted, and also re Your leader saying she doesn't want my vote either.

I used to be close friends with some of your policy makers 20 years ago. I find it really difficult to believe that your party's come to this.

[SatOnMySofa]

Hi, your manifesto says you want to extend ULEZ to at least 10 more cities. How do you decide on the cities? I think air quality is such an important issue but I’m wondering if ULEZ is the answer. Especially in areas with very unreliable public transport. Don’t you think there are other measure you should be taking first (cleaner buses, engine idling etc)?

[sue51]

As an ardent remainer I had planned to vote LD only to discover that your party did not want my vote. Are you aware of your parties total lack of regard for women's saftey and dignity?

[AutumnCrow]

Hello Phillip,

Welcome to Mumsnet. I'd like to ask if you are familiar with ongoing legal cases of Maya Forstater (employment case) and Harry Miller (High Court judicial review); and if you support their quest to ensure that people in the UK are free to hold and express reasonable scientific beliefs and engage in free speech without fear of sanction or police involvement?

Thank you.