Live webchat with UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Thurs 24 Feb, 1-2pm

[KatieMumsnet]

Our live webchat guest this week is Nigel Farage. He is the leader of UKIP and has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 1999.

Known for his straight-talking, Nigel has made the headlines with forthright speeches, once telling the EU President he had the charisma of a 'damp rag'.

He is a regular on programmes including BBC Question Time.

If you have a question you'd like to put to Nigel, please join the webchat this Thursday lunchtime, 1pm - 2pm. If you won't be around then, please post your question here.

[SheikYerbouti]

and as for 900,000 votes, there were a small minority fo folk who voted in our consituency for an ind candidate who wore a bag over his head. Can we have him here too?

[whomovedmychocolate]

What happens if we fill the thread up to 1005 posts before he arrives?

[SheikYerbouti]

here's your man.

It would probably be quite a short webchat though, as he didn't speak. Ever.

[jonicomelately]

Peter Staveley is a typical politician. Won't answer a direct question

[PStaveley]

Yes I am 48. Is there any reason why you wished to know that?

By the way StewieGriffinsMom you can be assured that I will not be logging on during Nigel's webchat, I have a business meeting to attend them.

[jonicomelately]

I asked the question because I was curious in your photograph you look a lot older

Lots of us will be busy at the time of the webchat Peter. That's why we are posting now

[scottishmummy]

filling the post up prior to talk is provocative and petty

like it or not Farage is democratically elected,and whilst i dont share his pov,he should still have opportunity to be heard. mnhq are the only people who should be deciding whom should be on mn.

[MmeLindt]

This is ridiculous.

This thread should be locked to those who were registered before the webchat was announced.

Otherwise I fear that Nigel will answer the smarmy questions of his supporters and ignore those of the posters of MN.

[jonicomelately]

I can report that Peter Staveley is telling the truth about his age. It says here in the Daily Mail that he was 44 in 2007

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

Ah. I feel a bit sorry for him now Joni. Come and join us on the Property thread Peter. Still £600k eh? Really? Really?

[jeanvaljean]

Nigel: UKIPs policy on Climate Change is to "Establish a Royal Commission to determine the truth about man-made global warming". Can you explain why the overwhelming opinion of the global scientific community is not enough for UKIP? You surely realise that any "Royal Commission" would be the target for lobbyists and would only increase the disinformation already foisted on the public by big business?

UKIPs stance on climate change is rather depressing.

[jonicomelately]

I'll lay off him now. I'm sure Peter is a great guy. He just yanked my chain by answering questions I'd posed to Nigel

[longfingernails]

Hello Nigel,

You are a great advocate for Britain - keep it up!

I will continue voting Tory for the time being - the deficit is our most pressing priority - but empathise heavily with your views.

The areas where I am most disappointed with Cameron is over Europe.

My question is: do you think you have ever been successful in shifting the Overton window on Europe? As far as I can see, UKIP have no specific achievement they can point to other than good success in elections themselves - perhaps to be expected, given the farcical way the EU Parliament works - but still. The most you can hope for at the moment is to pressure other parties into hardening their views.

Do you feel Cameron's more hawkish stance towards the ECHR is partly due to UKIP's influence?

Well done again!

PS I hope you are all recovered after your plane incident!

[PStaveley]

As you would expect those reports are completely wrong. The amount was £6,000. The reporter in Court, where I was a witness, got confused. The trouble is that got syndicated and I felt that it was too much trouble to attempt to get it corrected, not that the press are good at correcting their incorrect stories.

[jonicomelately]

I am genuinely pleased that it was only £6,000 Peter

[scottishmummy]

mr staveley,refrain from turning this into ukip propaganda

let farage answer questions put to him without you (or others) butting in and pre-empting answers

[jonicomelately]

Damned misleading figures about money to make a story sound far worse than it is

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

Glad to hear it Peter. I can't believe the Daily Mail made an error - property values are their bread and butter.

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

OK - I have a question for Nigel.

Can you explain your parental leave policy in your manifesto? It is not clear to me.


"The impact on small businesses [of EU maternity pay legislation] is disproportionately damaging...many SMEs are understandably nervous about employing young women, or try not to promote them to key positions.

UKIP proposes to vastly simplify this legislation. It would be up to each employer to decide whether to offer parental leave and this would be one of the items included in the standard employment contract (see above). An SME which refuses to offer parental leave will either have to offer young women higher salaries than other businesses which offer a long leave period or they will simply have to recruit from a smaller pool of potential employees."

Here.

I interpret this as meaning that UKIP will exempt small and medium businesses (which according to you are responsible for 55% of employees in the UK) from statutory maternity leave and pay. Is this the correct interpretation?

[Eleison]

I didn't mean by my silent protest to say that MN shouldn't have invited the man. Only that I don't want to talk to (or see much point in talking to) someone who feels that some of the mothers here should be legally forbidden from wearing a chosen piece of clothing in public buildings. I can see that MN are in a position where it is hard to say no to him without seeming unfair (hope they would draw the line at the BNP though). I do think it would be good to freeze registrations to stop the inflow of UKIP politrolls

[scottishmummy]

Eleison my preference is challenge and engage.imo silent protest on mn lets odious views off hook

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

I don't mean to normalise or attract attention for UKIP by asking them questions but as he is so keen to come onto Mumsnet I only think it is fair to challenge him on some key issues that affect mums. That's why I don't think this thread should just be for the nutjobs.

Though I do see both the silent protestors and your point TSC.

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

x-posted with scottishmummy