Webchat with Guardian columnist Zoe Williams, Thursday, 9 April, 1-2pm

[RachelMumsnet]

Guardian columnist Zoe Williams is joining us on Thursday at 1.00pm for a webchat. In her latest book Get it Together: Why We Deserve Better Politics she ponders over some key issues: Why can’t you buy a house? Will your kids be able to afford to go to university? Has the NHS had its day? Zoe appeals for everyone to play their part in creating a more equal society and states: "if you have a full-time job and still worry about shelter, food and warmth, then there is something wrong with your employer, your housing market, your food supply, your utilities ownership structure, or most likely all four".

Zoe's book offers a provocative, unique and very funny critique of the world and the future we're making for ourselves. Join her for a webchat on Thursday between 1 and 2pm or if you're unable to join us at that time, post a question to this thread in advance.

Horrah! Welcome to Mumsnet Zoe.

@IceBeing

What can be done to hold politicians to account for outright lies told to gain votes?

Farage in the leaders debate quoted stats that have been shown to be totally wrong (the AIDS numbers for starters).

How is it that he can say something, yell "it's a fact" over and over again when it isn't actually true at all?

How come it isn't fraud to tell lies in order to win votes in an election?

This is a really good question about lies, because it goes so far beyond what they say in debates and interviews, right in to the promises they make in their manifestos and (where it becomes necessary) their coalition agreements. Farage is a huge problem for traditional media because, whatever he says, however incorrect it is, it seems to just slide off him.
I think what will eventually persuade them to stop doing it is the young protest vote. Young poeple, even the ones who weren’t intending to go to university, are furious about how the tuition fee promise was so easy to break. I think if they see a large defection to the Greens, for instance, or to groups who promote ballot spoiling (link to follow), they’ll have to clean up their reputations.
How you actually bring someone like Farage to book, I do not know. I don’t think he’ll ever be held accountable in a meaningful way. I think it’ll catch up with him when people just stop listening because he’s lost so much credibility.

@EarlGreyhamGreene

Hi Zoe! Thanks for joining us today

On the subject of internships - your colleague Hadley Freeman recently quoted Geoff Dyer on his choice not to have children:

'...he says in his delightfully angst-free essay that the thought of having ?to make calls to friends at the Guardian or Faber & Faber about a possible internship? for his hypothetical child put him off parenthood for good.'

I also feel unwell when I think about what the media is going to look like in the next 10-20 years, when the people whose parents had contacts/live in London will likely be proportionally over-represented. Is this something that you think about too?

I'm fascinated by this question for two reasons: one, exactly as you say, the media already looks pretty gross (as the young people say) in the sense of its lack of diversity - white, middle-class, wealthy. And this is already worse than it was when I started in 1994 (& it wasn't great then).
But I also think - and Geoff Dwyer's iteration really feeds into this - that we're collectively blaming the wrong people. We act as though it's an intern's fault that they're not being paid, because they're taking the opportunity off someone who couldn't afford not to be paid: and of course, they are. But it's not their fault, it's not even their parents' fault, it's the employer's fault for not paying them. This really strangles a lot of potential activism, the tendency to blame the victims of exploitation for the fact that they're being exploited.

Hello Zoë

I haven't read your book, so please forgive me if you've covered this question! Do you think that the lack of trust in today's politicians has led to a great disenfranchisement, especially among women and other less vocal groups? It does seem that the past few years has hurt certain groups more than others, and those are the very groups who probably won't vote as they don't feel anyone can help, since the system is run by people who literally have no idea how they live. I guess I'd like to know what you would like to see done about this!

(Apart from encouraging all women to vote, because others died to give us the privilege.)

And how would you deal with the ever-present problem of who to vote for if you agree with no party absolutely and there are deal-breaker policies in all of the manifestos?

@BumgrapesofWrath

Hi Zoe - you are one of my favourite columnists.

I haven't read your book yet, but my question is - how do we make a left-wing party electable in this country? How do we persuade people that social justice is best for everyone?

I feel the problem with Labour at the moment is they are trying to please everyone, and in the end they might end up pleasing no-one. They don't lean left enough for a lot of their supporters, and they are trying to attract the kind of voters who are in favour of austerity and cuts to the welfare budget.

Hey thank you, I actually have loved your mumsnet posts in the past (am I allowed to say that? Didn't have anything in the guidelines about sucking up to questioners)
I think the problem with Labour is that they are trying to get elected by being 5% less obnoxious than the conservatives. And it might work, but I don't want to vote for someone less obnoxious. I want to vote for someone with a genuine belief that things could be better.
In terms of a left-wing electable party, my current feeling is this: it won't come from a leader, then trickle into a party, then trickle down to us. The People's Assembly won't be viable until we become the kind of people who assemble. If you look at Podemos and, to a degree, the SNP, they've all happened grass roots up rather than top down.

Thanks for the answer....although I think people are completely impervious to the truth when they want to believe the lie. I mean you would think people would have noticed by now that a number of Romanians in excess of the total population of Romania have actually failed to turn up in the UK as predicted by Mr F!

The manifesto thing...I think they will have to be more complicated and better thought out in future - if coalition governments are now a long term possibility then even very minor parties could end up being held to account on promises.

I hope you are right about the Greens - I joined them recently!

Hi Zoe, I wondered what your thoughts are on Russell Brand and his talk of revolution?

@MyCatIsBatman11

Hi Zoe, love your columns, couple of questions for you

1. Do you think that the rising university fees in the UK and especially the US could work like a housing bubble and burst, if enough young people decide that the cost isn't worth it, or else take their "custom" to Scandinavia and the Netherlands?

1. What does the Q in your twitter handle stand for? Is it Quentin?

Hi there, thanks for really good questions. I think there will be a bit of migration, yes: when British students figure out a) that a lot of courses abroad are run in English and b) under EU law, German fees, for instance, would be capped for UK students at well below 9k (being free for Germans), there may be a bit of an exodus.
What worries me the most is that students will be like I was: obviously I didn't pay fees, but I was so clueless about long-term effects that I would have just stacked up the debt and worried about it later. My fear is that they'll just emerge with 50grand's worth of assorted debts and this will completely change the way they live; much as the housing bubble is completely changing the way professionals live and the expectations they have for their lives.

There is no meaning to the sq!

@ZoeWilliams

Hi everyone! I'm a bit early. This is specifically to stick it to the person who thought I'd never find Mumsnet Towers. *When I say "stick it to", what I actually mean is, "say hello to" xxx

Do you think voting should be compulsory? (I do)

Hello Zoe, I don't have any intelligent questions about politics (I'd just want to talk about Buffy) so I'll read the thread and attempt to be educated :)

Yowsers, sorry, I had a technical hitch and my two super intelligent remarks were just lost, stand by for something a bit like them....

@moonbells

Hello Zoë

I haven't read your book, so please forgive me if you've covered this question! Do you think that the lack of trust in today's politicians has led to a great disenfranchisement, especially among women and other less vocal groups? It does seem that the past few years has hurt certain groups more than others, and those are the very groups who probably won't vote as they don't feel anyone can help, since the system is run by people who literally have no idea how they live. I guess I'd like to know what you would like to see done about this!

(Apart from encouraging all women to vote, because others died to give us the privilege.)

And how would you deal with the ever-present problem of who to vote for if you agree with no party absolutely and there are deal-breaker policies in all of the manifestos?

I think there is a political interest in presenting women, young people and the bottom 10% as disenfranchised or apathetic, because then our problems can be turned into technical or presentational ones - would we be happier if we could vote by text? If we saw a pink bus?
I have actually never met a person who was apathetic, and that includes people who have never voted in their lives. People are furious. The reason they don't vent their fury with a vote is that they can't see a party that answers it with an ambitious programme.

@bundle

Do you think voting should be compulsory? (I do)

I would happily make it compulsory to turn up at the ballot box, but I don't think anyone should have to vote for a given party. Every vote gives them the fig leaf of legitimacy, gives them the mandate. If they're not offering anything people want, we shouldn't be forced to pretend we want it.

By the way, please don't apologise for not having read my book. I am glad, because otherwise I'd know that you'd already heard literally everything I have to say about everything

Hi Zoe, there seems to be a total lack of political understanding as to how youth work and youth service provision can support our young people. I know you have a keen interest in issues that affect young people and wonder what your view is on this. I believe that youth services have suffered terribly because of austerity and in some areas of the country all youth service provision has disappeared. Youth services do not only provide a safe space for yp to go but also, because of the voluntarily engagement, youth workers can build fantastic relationships and support yp to develop skills, build resilience through informal education. I believe that youth services, which provide cost effective preventative work with young people should be protected by whichever party is in government and be sufficiently funded. Many thanks :)

Mmm. I know people who swear they aren't going to vote because they don't actually trust any of the politicians but there isn't a 'none of the above' button apart from a spoiled ballot. Yes, fury does describe it well. Thanks for the thought-provoking answer.

@Hamsterswheel

Hi Zoe, I wondered what your thoughts are on Russell Brand and his talk of revolution?

Here's what I think

1. I will take Russell Brand as an ally, any day of the week. I think he is genuine and has a real compassion for other people, which I prefer for any amount of realpolitik
2. A lot of people on the left think he's too sexist to have anything to do with. I don't agree. He's just a shagger. There's nothing inherently sexist about promiscuity.
3. I can't stand this idea that, in order for things to be better, we have to break everything first. It's something that particularly appeals to young men, on both sides of the spectrum.
4. There are some good things about British politics (it's not as corrupt as, say, Spanish or Portuguese politics) and a lot of that is about structure. There are even good individual MPs, the problem is that they get crunched into a very (small c) conservative machine, where they're not allowed to sound "radical" incase we get scared.
5. In summary, I agree with Ha-Joon Chang (the economist) - I want radical change, without torn-up-at-the-roots destructiveness. And I think that's what a lot of us want. And I think it's eminently possible.

""

wow - she has spurned the free biscuits? unthinkable!

@KERRYJENKINS97

Hi Zoe, there seems to be a total lack of political understanding as to how youth work and youth service provision can support our young people. I know you have a keen interest in issues that affect young people and wonder what your view is on this. I believe that youth services have suffered terribly because of austerity and in some areas of the country all youth service provision has disappeared. Youth services do not only provide a safe space for yp to go but also, because of the voluntarily engagement, youth workers can build fantastic relationships and support yp to develop skills, build resilience through informal education. I believe that youth services, which provide cost effective preventative work with young people should be protected by whichever party is in government and be sufficiently funded. Many thanks :)

Thoughts on young people:

1. The end of the ESA, and the general underfunding of further education, as well as youth support services, has been the unsung scandal of this government. It really does seem as though, if you're a young person not destined for Oxford, the political debate doesn't really care about you: the endpoint of 30years fixation on social mobility is that young people who aren't particularly mobile have no place in the political discourse at all.

1. Student fees are a symptom, rather than a cause on their own, of the current political vision of the future, i.e., that we no longer really look after each other. We just sink or swim, cope with our debts or drown under them, and accept life as permanently indebted.

1. My hope from all of this is that we will see some solidarity - indeed, we're already seeing solidarity across classes in this generation, which we didn't really see 20 years ago. Young people protesting against uni fees alongside young people protesting against cuts in services. I think that's where the pressure will come from.

@IceBeing

""

wow - she has spurned the free biscuits? unthinkable!

It is actually true that I can't get anywhere on time, not even for biscuits.

thanks Zoe, lots of campaigning ongoing with pressure groups such as ChooseYouth and more grass roots campaigning but we need a defining stance from central government for ring fenced funding otherwise local government cannot and will not fund sufficiently. Would you be interested in doing an article on the need for a statutory youth service?

@AHK92

Hi Zoe,

I heard your interview on London Live and my ears pricked up at the mention of internships. As a graduate from 2014 that worked hard to gain eight internships (to date), I can't see a way to complain about the poor treatment when it's implied that there are droves of people lined up to replace you if you can't stick it out; and there are. I also thought internships would be a way forward to gain entry into my chosen career path but they haven't proved successful. What happens when you've supposedly gained the 'right amount' of experience but can't get a job? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the way forward for young people trapped in the internship cycle of free work and barely-there expenses.

Thank you

Jesus. 8 internships? That must be so demoralising. I really really feel for you: I'm totally sick of unpaid interns being spoken about as the people with the privilege; even if they (you) are from privileged backgrounds, it doesn't alter the fact that you're being stiffed. Indeed, I think there's a direct connection between the redistribution of money, away from wages and towards profits, and a diminishing respect for people who work for you. It is almost as if, the less you're paying someone, the less you have to consider their wellbeing, and the less responsibility you have to take for their future. It is just so shortsighted, and counter to everything the relationship is supposed to be about.
I would get in touch with Graduate Fog, if I were you: graduatefog.co.uk
The solution to this kind of shame that people feel, when they do these free jobs, have no rights and just get slated for it, is to talk to others in the same position.
Good luck with it all.
Z

@KERRYJENKINS97

thanks Zoe, lots of campaigning ongoing with pressure groups such as ChooseYouth and more grass roots campaigning but we need a defining stance from central government for ring fenced funding otherwise local government cannot and will not fund sufficiently. Would you be interested in doing an article on the need for a statutory youth service?

Always! [email protected] (anyone use that, btw. I am really a fan of the mumsnet lot, and not afraid of you, the way I would be Guardian readers)

oh yes the pink bus....I can't believe how angry I still am about that.