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Q&A with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - catch up here

137 replies

KateMumsnet · 25/03/2015 10:24

Hello all

At lunchtime today we'll be holding a live, in-person Q&A session with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, with an audience composed entirely of Mumsnetters.

With luck (and a decent wireless connection) we'll be live-blogging the whole thing, so do join us between 12.45 and 2pm to hear how the DPM responds to MNers' searching questions - and let us know what you think as the session unfolds.

OP posts:
JugglingFromHereToThere · 26/03/2015 17:08

Looking back on the discussion as a whole I think one of the most interesting things he said was talking about coalitions - firstly that he thinks majority one party governments may be on the way out and coalitions of one kind or another here to stay. And secondly that the coalition we currently have - the possibly aptly titled Con/Dem's - wasn't formed on a whim (a personal one of his or otherwise) but was simply on the direction of the electorate. Indeed he sat down with Gordon Brown and tried to explain this to him that the numbers simply didn't add up (for a majority government) any other way.

So, thinking about it now, is there a slight distancing of himself from the current coalition, and a hint that he'd be perhaps more than ready to look at forming an alternative coalition with different partners after the election?

I think some of this was in response to a theoretically one word answer question .... So, coalition with conservative or labour after next election?
(or similar wording)
I'm not sure if this Q&A has been included in the thread has it?
(could be wrong on that, may be there somewhere)

Also for MNHQ I was glad to see mental health services well addressed yesterday with two specific Q&A's, and touched on in other questions and answers too - so thinking it should get a mention in any summary of what was covered (such as on MN home page where I noticed it was included earlier but not now - as you've now gone with the few women in LibDem party issue)
< and breathe Smile >

WhistlingPot · 26/03/2015 19:06

Thank you Rowan, I'll listen to that later - didn't mean my post to be quite so snippy, I imagine it was fairly bonkersly hectic trying to catch all of that. I did thoroughly appreciate the capturing of [Clegg splutters a bit at this] though Grin

DeathStar · 26/03/2015 19:12

Agreed - I was also pleased to hear about mental health issues being addressed in both the adult sector (regarding in-patient care) and for children (regarding waiting lists). There was coverage of him promoting the new sports & mental health campaign on yesterday's evening news - can't find video of that report (it might have been on ITV, not sure) but there is an article and a short Twitter vid by him here - www.libdemvoice.org/clegg-launches-mental-health-charter-for-sport-and-recreation-45159.html

I very much appreciated the opportunity and enjoyed the experience of being part of the MNQs, especially meeting other lovely MNers, thanks Rowan and all the others organising! :)

mildlyacquiescent · 26/03/2015 23:06

Who in their right mind would agree to be paraphrased?

I think you should have made that clearer, actually.

I'm judging him for being a vacuous waffler of no substance and... you've reduced it to the bones here?

littleducks · 27/03/2015 07:34

The Haringey paper has an article with a video clip (I think maybe a montage of the ones linked to earlier)

www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/news/national/11879938._No_cover_up__of_historic_abuse/

DeathStar · 27/03/2015 09:20

It's not a montage in the Haringey video, although it does include more shots of MNers than most, which is good to see - we are real people! :) It does appear to be the same otherwise as the previous published article.

I think the worst that keeping any cover-up conspiracy story going does, is it potentially prevents other victims and witnesses from coming forward.

In my experience, if a victim or witness is led to believe up front that their tragedy won't be heard or investigated, or may even turn around on themselves, they won't want to come forward and will want to protect themselves and their privacy first.

Any witness statement can be the one to provide a necessary link between serial offences and offenders.

If you focus energy on spreading and supporting cover-up theories at any level, less and less of those desperately-needed pieces of evidence will be forthcoming, due to the concern imprinted on the public that any reports will fall on deaf ears, will make themselves look bad, or will become part of some theoretical cover-up.

Unfortunately, any past emergence of smaller cover-up issues or ranks having closed previously on someone in high position adds to public paranoia, which is possibly the reason why as many high-profile examples are being made to see justice today, as quickly as possible.

The focus of media coverage and policy should be on supporting victims and their families - not on feeding conspiracy stories.

If anything, the culture itself of the conspiracy theory/cover-up does more harm in preventing crime being reported than good. At any level - from assault in a nightclub to the csa scandal.

When I was in security I had to counsel victims regularly who were reluctant to give statements due to their preconceptions about policing and justice, and all issues were seen through, if they were reported by the victims and witnesses - right up to supporting them by giving my own statements to police, and being witness in court for them, in some cases.

xx

Heckler · 28/03/2015 16:12

I Accidentally (really Rowan - I didn't plan it, I promise) hijacked him on the way to the lifts to leave the building.

I asked him about national funding for Refuges, (because of the number of DA threads we have here in relationships) instead of making it a post code lottery.

His answer was basically that you can't ring fence everything, and that you have to trust local councils with stuff (and kind of said that you can't trust national government either - wish that had been on tape).

I said that he had to consider that he was talking about some of the most vulnerable and voiceless people, who are not really represented in politics.

What I wanted to say is that people are really hurt by this, and 2 women a week are killed by their current or former partner. If he says you can't ring fence everything, why not make water quality or health and safety legislation a locally decided policy.

JugglingFromHereToThere · 28/03/2015 16:27

Ooh, well done Heckler - great choice of topic Thanks

bunchoffives · 29/03/2015 10:57

Deathstar If anything, the culture itself of the conspiracy theory/cover-up does more harm in preventing crime being reported than good. At any level - from assault in a nightclub to the csa scandal.

You sound like an apologist for child abuse and its covering up. I think you need to seriously re-evaluate your position.

There is NO DOUBT that many many politicians, police, social workers, press and public knew all about what was going on in the 70s, 80s, 90s and since.
Look at the parliament website links I posted earlier. There were questions, committees and motions raised fairly regularly exactly about this, in the House of Commons itself. How can Nick Clegg or any other MP claim they didn't know? Bollocks they didn't.

And that's without mentioning the regular press coverage (which is comprehensively listed on one of the websites: exaro? - there's a link in the in the news thread).

Just a little bit of research on mn's 'in the news' thread will show you that talk of 'cover-ups' is absolutely not a conspiracy theory - but is unequivocal fact. Like Hillsborough, Rochdale, Oxford, claims of corruption and abuse are proven to be exactly what has gone on. Sadly.

JugglingFromHereToThere · 02/04/2015 16:25

Did anyone else hear Nick Clegg on radio/TV last week (I caught it on Classic FM one morning) committing to increased funding for mental health services, especially for children and young people. Several million pounds - I forget the detail. But I thought that was great and very likely Mumsnet influenced, as it was just after the MN debate.

Result!
And thanks for listening on that Nick Thanks

Auriga · 05/04/2015 07:49

No, Clegg & his gang have enabled the Tories to launch a sustained attack on people with severe mental illness in the form of benefit cuts and sanctions, bedroom tax and GP commissioning, which has fragmented community mental health services.

JugglingFromHereToThere · 10/04/2015 07:50

Fair enough Auriga. Our wider family has experienced the effects of these cuts during the last few years too - it has been very painful. Going in to this next election my concerns are mainly for an anti-austerity coalition of some kind.

I wonder if Nick Clegg would be prepared to jump ships, and whether he would be invited? I think he's trying to leave as many options open to the LibDems as possible (having attended the debate and watched other recent ones on TV)

But I don't think every coalition possibility is salable to the electorate - I've heard mention of Con/Lab and Con/SNP for example and can't really see these actually happening. Also the much mentioned Con/UKIP would be so horrible would DC really be able to sell that to us within "compassionate conservatism"? Would he and others actually want to?

Personally I'm hoping for an anti-austerity coalition of the good guys this time round - Labour/SNP with Lib Dems and Greens and Plaid Cym for extra back up as needed Smile I'm personally supporting the Green Party and hoping for at least a handful of Green MPs for the next 5 years!

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