to think we are doing ourselves a disservice by asking the PM about biscuits/TV/film etc?

[Ewe]

We have the PRIME MINISTER on for a webchat, surely we can keep this political and relevant?

I worry that asking questions about these superficial things;

a) gives him an opportunity to avoid the harder and more important questions

and

b) may give the impression that we are just a bunch of daft mums when we are actually the complete opposite!

AIBU? (Quite probably yes)

Oh the biscuits make the press. Times and BBc here and http://timesonline.typepad.com/alphamummy/2009/10/gordon-brown-disappoints-on-mumsnetcom.html here

Try again - Times here

No, I agree with those who say that a few lighter questions answered would have been a Good Thing.

Let's face it, we all could have predicted how he would have answered the political questions. I often wonder why people ask things that have been made clear in party conferences not 3 weeks ago.

Of course knowing his biscuit choice is not going to make anyone sane vote for him, but at least we would have seen another side of him, found out if he is really human. It wouldn't have taken 10 seconds to write "garibaldi" or similar. It is a chat room and chat is what we do a lot of. Not unreasonable to ask even the PM to chat for a few seconds.

DC's chat was much more human seeming. No surprises I guess. www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=222&threadid=149477

"Haven't really listened to Abba for a while.... Could be Dancing Queen, Fernando or I suppose the Winner takes it all."

and then, later, in response to Coldplay vs Arctic Monkeys

"Bought the Artic Mon keys - quite like, but am still a cold play fan. "

nice pic of Gordon and Justine huddled round the computer on the archived version!!

Justine is fiddling with her hair while smirking...ha!

Well I enjoyed reading it, good balance of questions and though he came out of it rather well.

"DC's chat was much more human seeming."
You've missed a bit off there SomeGuy. More human seeming in your opinion

Obviously what I say is my opinion, rather than somebody else's opinion.

Anyway, the decision to ask about biscuits has been vindicated by it being the lead for a news.bbc.co.uk article about his interview on mumsnet. People are much more interested in biscuits than party political blather.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8312215.stm

YANBU. NHS would have been high on my list to ask but I didn't know about it.

Bumping. For fun.

i get the light and shade thing but tbh i think it allowed the papers to make fools of us again, so yanbu. (although i did join in with the late night swoonfest when he was long gone).

I don't actually think this is our fault, so much as the media's curiously prehistoric insistence on Mumsnet being full of flighty ladies talking about haberdashery and what to cook for their husbands' dinner. The thread was packed full of incredibly well informed and punchy questions, with a few light ones about biscuits and films; I find it plain weird that the MSM have fastened on to the biscuit angle as though it was the most interesting thing that happened.

missed the chat and haven't had time to read it - but some people are always sycophantic for these chats. And the politicains always pick a few easy questions and only reply to them. Waste of time apart from the publicity from mumsnet.

tatt, you might so well to read it then, there was very little sycophancy, many searching questions, and Gb being called on his lack of indepth answers, with a bit of lighthearted banter.

But then, why bother reading it when you can just pronounce on it anyway?

I'm not sure why everyone's so surprised that they didn't get indepth debate with GB - he's the PM. He's in charge of big picture stuff, the topline direction and policy, and that's what we got.

The biscuit question would have been interesting to get a flash of human insight into the man, so I think it's valid.

But if you want detailed debate and discussion, you go and engage with the actual civil servants in the departments doing the actual doing, the implementing of the policy, the groundwork.

Otherwise it's like having the CEO of Tesco's on and asking him why the Basingstoke store only has four doors instead of eight.

IMO.

There were lots of questions asked of the PM, which he didn't answer. Thus a really easy question was asked, totally non-political and still the PM didn't answer it. Who care's what biscuits he likes... fact is, he didn't answer that question, or any of the many questions before (or after) it.
The media could have picked up on any of the questions asked... especially the ones which the PM didn't answer. The biscuit question was picked by the media probably due to it's simplicity and good topic for headline writers.
Ultimately the PM came onto mumsnet, got asked lots of questions and didn't answer many.
Anyone got a list of the questions he did actually answer?

policy, its not surprise that the media think that's all we are worth when Mnetter themselves (pace tatt) think we are all a bunch of sycophants with sod all between our ears.

And fwiw, I think the Times actually did put across the general tone and highlighted the paucity of responses rather well, and I refer to hatwomen's incisive response to his flannel about childcare vouchers.

Apparently he answered 31, which isn't bad for an hour? Especially as he was clearly dictating to the world's slowest typist!

WhatFreshHellIsThis - I take it you haven't tried to get DCSF to answer any questions. I've been trying for over a week - they simply don't respond. I've contacted my MP... again no response. If you can't get hold of the civil servants in the department you want to talk with, what do you do?
By asking the PM the questions, with luck he will get his advisers to look at the questions and ask the relevant departments what is going on.

YANBU.
I read it, it was cringeworthy. Not on behalf of the PM, but I cringed to be a mumsnetters when I saw that daft questions a lot of people saw fit to ask.

Not just that, but you'd really think people would see fit to NOT crowd the thread with nonsensical chit chat and silly comments.

Very embarassing overall. The beebs review was very fitting. Biscuit quiz PM doesn't crumble

Of course I didn't expect him to engage in genuine political debate or answer any questions properly. I guess I just think that politics is dumbed down enough by the media, we don't need to add to it.

I don't think the news articles are terribly flattering either. Glad Mumsnet got some good press out of it as ultimately these things are a PR exercise for them too and it has certainly been a success in that respect which is A Good Thing.

Quint, it was a chat on Mumsnet, nothing wrong with a tiny bit of inconsequential waffle. we didn't make it a big thing, he did.

850 questions of which a dozen or so were light-hearted...

Absolutely nannynick, I agree that by asking the questions here it might bring it to the advisers attention. And in my last job I used to work with the DCSF, so I feel your pain

But people seemed surprised that he couldn't/wouldn't get down to brass tacks with his answers, and that seemed a bit unrealistic to me.

WhatFreshHelIsThis - I won't hold working for DCSF against you... I used to work for Ofsted

I feel he could have responded but not answered questions - such as saying "I'll pass that on to DCSF" but I suppose that would give the message that he didn't know the answer... but since when would the PM know every answer.

ahem.....worked with the DCSF, not for them. A subtle but vital distinction, I feel.