Webchat with Deputy Labour Leader Harriet Harman MP; THURSDAY 12 FEBRUARY 12-1pm

[RowanMumsnet]

Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman MP will be joining us at MNHQ on Thursday 12 February between 12 midday and 1pm.

Harriet is Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and Shadow Deputy Prime Minister. She was first elected as an MP aged 32 when she was 7 months pregnant, and her long-term campaigning interests include gender equality, better maternity pay and conditions, and women-only shortlists.

Come and chat to Harriet this Thursday at 12 midday, or post a question in advance on this thread if you can't make it on the day.

Thanks
MNHQ

Thanks Rowan, I'd like to ask her the following -

In January 2009, why did you propose a rule change to exempt MP's expenses from the Freedom of Information Act? Do you think this was the most transparent and ethical way of acting?

In December 2010 it was reported that you secretly repaid wrongly claimed expenses between 2008 and 2010. What was it that you claimed for?

How do you reconcile your membership of and position in the Labour Party with your decision to send your two sons to state schools that select on the basis of academic ability?

Thank you.

Pink minibus? Really?

Yes Witch

How does HH explain this?
order-order.com/2015/02/10/labour-unveil-crap-budget-battle-bus/

How are the Labour Party going to get their act together and neutralise the horror that is Salmond?

Will you be taking the 11% pay rise that MPs are getting?

Hi Harriet,

I was going to vote Green, until I read more about their desire to decriminalise men paying women for sex. How would you convince a Feminist floating voter to choose Labour?

What can be done to encourage employers to hire around school hours or school terms? So many parents would like to work but there seems to be very little incentive for employers to think outside the box on working day structure. It's such a waste of talent. Even structuring jobs to take account of school holidays would release so many people into the job pool.

If elected, will labour reintroduce child benefit as a universal benefit? If not, will they address the anomaly of two parents on £45k still getting it but a lone working parent on £50k not getting it?

And, when will you abandon the SDLP (who are dead in the water) and field candidates in Northern Ireland?

What do you think is the single worst decision the Tories made over the last five years, and what you would you do to reverse it/fix the problems caused by it if Labour get into power?

If Labour win at the next election will Labour put an stop on the roll out of the disasterous universal credit? The introduction of monthly payments and a single payment will leave some struggling for weeks before payment and, unlike tax credits, will most often go to the earner leaving sahm's without any money coming straight to them. This can leave women in abusive situations very vulnerable as financial control can be a major issue.

What will Labour do to fix the gap between housing costs and wages?

Does Labour agree that a full time wage should be enough to provide adequate housing without the need of housing benefit?

What is Labour going to do to win Scotland back from the SNP, do you think Labour are out of touch with the Scottish electorate?

Given 'Rashida Manjoo, a United Nations human rights expert, says Britain's sexist culture is more 'pervasive' and 'in your face' than any other country she has visited' (telegraph April 2014)

Do you think your pink mini buss helps enforce the message that politics is indeed for men, and women do indeed need a 'special, pink, girly' version of politics.

Would you consider a 'special van' for black and ethnic minority voters? Or gay voters? To help them believe politics is for them to?

i am really concerned by the normalisation of gambling that the Labour government helped usher in. ( in fact couldn't WAIT to rush in!)

I know you are against it and accept it has been an error. Is there anyway to roll back the clock on gambling adverts on daytime tv?

two questions i'm afraid but both personally effect me massively so i would really appreciate an answer to them:

why is labour not committed to reversing the decision to make women and children pay for the privilege of trying to get child maintenance from men who refuse otherwise to pay it? do you see this as fair? should not the refusal to pay for one's children be comparable to neglect on the part of a resident parent and be criminalised?

would labour attempt to stop home education or place restrictions on it again if re-elected?

many thanks.

Are Labour worried about the general feeling towards them in Scotland? And why, instead of using positive campaigns, are they suggesting that the SNP gaining seats, will actually mean a conservative win.

Also, Jim Murphy. Why?!

As a life long Labour voter I am not sure how you can convince me as a Married working Mother of two primary school aged children what difference voting Labour will make to my life.

A bit about me

I struggle to juggle living in the south east and buying a house with a bedroom for each child, childcare costs for after school and holidays.

My husband pays over £2500 per year for a poorly run train service to London 20 mins away and we are not able to budget for the increases as we don't know what they might be?

I am a school governor and am concerned about funding for the next 3 years and how we are to manage the school budget without reducing the head count and affecting ALL of the children's ability to progress their learning (not for Ofsted for themselves)

I look forward to hearing what Labour might be able to do for me.

I am not currently a Labour voter (in my area its either Tory or Lib Dem so I may have to vote Lib Dem) but I would like to say thank you Harriet for defending Alison Saunders; and standing up for rape victims when a certain journalist suggested drunk women are to blame.

Your Labour colleagues (and fellow Mayoral candidates) Diane Abbott and David Lammy are both advocating strong and dynamic rent controls to stop the awful exploitation of tenants in the Private Rented Sector which now accounts for over 25% of Londoners. Tenants need real change - security of tenure, longer tenancies, quality housing and most of all real, strong rent controls.

Landlords have had it good for far too long and too many vulnerable people are being exploited and milked for what little income they have. Building more homes is not a solution unless landlords and BTLers are banned from buying them, otherwise the problem will get worse.

As a Labour politician and future Mayoral candidate, what policies are you proposing to radically transform the private rented sector (hint: look at Germany for an egalitarian rental sector) and do you advocate rent controls which are desperately needed?

Did your heart sink when the PR gurus unveiled the pink bus? Honestly?

Will Labour consider diverting the billions currently spent on housing benefit subsidies (which goes into the pockets of rich landlords) into a mass house building programme of social homes which would benefit the people of this country, the economy, the NHS and incentive work? If not, why not?

More paternity leave sounds great. But why are men going to be paid more for taking time off work with newborns than women? Can you see any problems with basing pay/benefits on gender?

Why do political parties feel the need to badge issues such as health and childcare as women's issues? Doesn't that just reinforce the gender stereotypes that feed discrimination against both sexes? In a similar vein, wouldn't Labour proposals to increase statutory paternity levels to c£100 per week more than statuary maternity levels fall foul of equal 'pay' laws?

Harriet, I'm a lifelong labour voter and party member, but I'm feeling increasingly uncomfortable with some of the recent messaging. Why is childcare part of your 'women's manifesto'? Doesn't this contribute to the positioning of childcare as women's problem (rather than parents)?

And don't you think having a special manifesto for the ladies is patronising anyway? Most people-women and men- are perfectly capable of extracting the manifesto promises that are relevant to us.

Considering the attrition rates in the teaching profession, the difficulty in recruiting, the continuing decline in status and relative pay. working conditions and now the increase in retirement age there would seem to be a comprehensive blindness to the future implications of this combination of active problem causing and wilful neglect,
Does labour intend to address any of these issues which are leading to an obvious and impending crisis in education?