Questions for David Cameron

[mumsnet]

We know what he thinks about education, the economy and Europe, but what about the really important stuff? Like how many nappies, exactly, has he changed in the last two weeks? And does young Arthur favour a three-in-one travel system, or a rugged off-roader? You can find out the answers to these and other pressing questions (and tell him what you think of all that tummy-patting) next Monday lunchtime when David Cameron visits Mumsnet to give his first interview since the birth of his third child. David will be online from 12.45pm. You can post advance questions for him here.

Would it be unfair to suggest that you are doing a live event on a parenting website in order to help cultivate a cuddly family-friendly image which is at odds with your actual voting record (see puddle and Marina's posts)?

congratulations

Inheritance tax - should it be scrapped?
what will you leave your child?

Schools - why are they so controversial - postcode lottery (ok if you can move) ?

Housing - I do not forsee owning a home in London where I have lived and worked most of my adult life - I have paid rent in this city for years and have nothing to show for that. I have no real estate stake - does this mean no stake at all? I cannot sell up and move near to a good school so I must support my local one which they say is improving.
I know people with families who are working who cannot afford market rents who have contributed taxes and themselves to working in this place and they are still feeling vulnerable because they cannot afford housing. Less people have permanent employment and many are self-employed they take a risk with their wealth and their health. Working week to week not year to year.
Should we leave having been priced out like so many others before? I feel we should be able to live anywhere in England and so should anyone else - with a reasonable standard of living. Nice idea isn't it? I am not sure that property developers would agree.

I think that's enough moaning for now. All the best.
Could you forwar to Tony

Thanks

I think that when you function as one unit financially, you should be assessed in that way from all angles.

As a hypothetical example: Mary and Dave earn 20K each for 30 hour weeks at the same company. Total tax bill - about 10 k in total (middle tax band plus NI).

Mary stops work (say, to look after child) and Dave takes on her hours. He now works 60 hours for 40K - tax bill about 17K (40% tax plus NI).
Mary not eligible to benefits, due to adequate family income.

Mary and Dave split up. His tax bill stays the same (he earns too much to get family tax credit). Mary can now expect 4-5K per year in benefits - and if she's lucky the same again in housing etc.

I'm not suggesting for a second that Mary is better off, or that anyone would make choices like that for tax reasons. However, you can see that while they're earning the same overall, they have substantial cost - nearly one thousand pounds a month take home - to re-arrange their responsibilities.

I'm not pushing for mothers to stay at home - I work 3 days myself. I just find the tax system is not flexible enough to let me make genuine creative choices about how I manage my work life balance.

What's a negative tax code?

And don't forget that much of this country is run by volunteers. Where do these volunteers come from? They are not all retirees. A huge number of them are SAHMs who use the skills they have acquired in work and subsequently in raising their children to do good in the community (sorry, that sounds like a trite phrase, but that's what they do - good). Without this vast army of volunteers, society would be much worse off. Shovelling all these mums back into work might make the governments tax figures look better, the society as a whole would be much the poorer.

Another one here for improving the work/life balance for working parents.

My dd spends 50 hours a week in childcare, too much imo, but I can't afford to cut my hours. I live in a small house, drive a small car, holiday with relatives etc etc but the cost of living means that both dh & I have to work full time as neither of us earn a huge amount of money.

Can I add that as I have a son with SN, I couldn't find childcare that could cope when I did want to work, and not having a house leaves me with real fear that if he cannot work as an adult, he will be destitute when we pass away if we cannot at least leave him a home to live in.
He has Aspergers so falls outside the state provision in our area, yet the Paediatrician admitted that he may indeed never be able to hold down a job or leave home.

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Just a message:

Good luck David. Time for Tony, and the reds, to move on.

Congratulations on the birth of your new baby too!

nice one Krabbiepatty!
David, will you actually take note of any of our concerns here I wonder? Are you really hearing us?
Many people on this website are the sort of working parents/volunteers who have helped you and your wife through three pregnancies, provide the support you get for Ivan, deliver your post daily, serve you in shops or drive your Ocado van, will teach your children and issue their library books.
Hardly any of us market covetable luxury stationery for a living, let's be quite frank.
Most of us live in a world that I think, despite your best intentions, you (and plenty of other politicians of all parties) haven't got a clue about.
Why are you here? Is Sam a Mner I wonder?

krabbiepattie

Oh, I've only just seen this.

I'd also like to know whether you have any plans for strengthening the flexible working legislation, it doesn't go far enough imo. Allowing employers to wriggle out of it 'for business reasons', which, let's face it, could mean anything, isn't good enough. Sorry if I'm repeating questions, haven't read the whole thread.

Having skimmed thread, yes, cost of housing too. Average house price is now ten times average salary, hence many twenty somethings still living with parents.

Puddle - now I am not a Tory voter - never voted Tory nor never will, am firmly left of centre 9which means I no longer have the option of labout either ....

....but, to be fair on David Cameron, I beleive that he did support paternity leave and the extension of maternity leave. It was a dirty tricks comapaign by Labour to smear him by suggesting he didn't. He voted against the Bill as a whole, not because of those clauses (which he explicitly stated that he supported), but becasue of other issues that the Tory Party were unhappy about.

Marina I may be shallow but I love what Sam has achieved at Smythson! Lets not underplay her achievements

Marina and puddle. Shall i repost 5 or 6 times in Paxman-esque manner?

That is quite beside the point soapy (says she, shoving Smythson products hastily under pile of crucial public sector invoices)

krabbie-

loved it too-

Yes deffo Paxman style please!!

Will your children go to state schools?

What are you plans with regards to the eating habits of our children? When school do cook healthy foods, many kids are allowed off the school sites, in the majority of cases there are chip shops nearby (two near the school I went to, regularly flooded with kids wanting a chip fix). Do you plan not only to reform school dinners but to also stop junk food establishments being open in school hours (doubt it would be a popular choice, but whats the point of having healthy foods if the kids can go to the chip shop?).
Also, when it is mostly cheaper to buy ready meals (Tesco Value meals anybody) than the raw ingreedients / vegetables to make it yourself, what would be your plan there? I have many friends who find it a lot cheaper / easier to buy a Tesco family size ready made meal at £4 maximum than it is to make a healthy nutritional meal for their families. Fruit and Veg shops are cheaper, but most are forced closed due to the globalalism of Tesco giants. Any plans there?

(I once had my friends daughter for dinner. I made a chicken salad as a snack for lunch. She sat and ate loads, then asked me what the red things were as she liked them and had never had them before. It was a tomato. She was seven. I find that really sad).

What are David's views on the future of special schools? Are they secure? Will the current inclusion policy be reviewed? Any plans to introduce early intervention (proper early intervention, not 1 hour a week portage)? Any plans to tackle the dire shortage of specialist speech and language therapists, OT's etc?

(Question asked by Mum to a 6 year old severely autistic non-verbal son- who waited 1 year for speech therapy then was seen 3 times in one year. We paid for private SALT. My son spent 4 disasterous terms in mainstream, during whcih time we paid for part time ABA at home. Now attends a very wonderful special school (SLD/PMLD) and is making excellent progress, with a curriculum to suit and lots of sensory work- the provision could never be matched in mainstream).

WWW thanks for adding the flexible working thing.

I have recently lost an application to work from home part of the week - something that I had been doing for 6 months with no problem but the company suddenly stopped allowing. This has had a huge impact on the amount of time dd spends in daycare as I have a fairly long commute. Is there anything DC can do to force companies to be more family friendly.

David,

I have a couple of questions for you:-

What is the current thinking on Special Needs education?.

Will a Conservative government, if elected, be willing to give LEAs more money to fund special needs provision in terms of statementing, special needs schools?.

Will a Conservative government also clamp down hard on LEAs who break the law with regards to statementing provision?

I ask the above as to my mind no one party has a good track record when it comes to SEN.

My congratulations to your family on your new addition.

There are more children identified as being on the dyslexic spectrum in independent schools, perhaps 10 times as many pro rata, than in state schools.

Will you be trying to identify dyslexia more effectively in state schools and rolling out schemes nationwide which have been successful but only so far available in a very few schools?

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