Webchat with Yvette Cooper, Labour shadow home secretary, WEDNESDAY 29 April, 11am

[RowanMumsnet]

We’re pleased to announce that our third and (probably) final politics webchat this (next) week will be with Yvette Cooper, Labour candidate for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, and Shadow Home Secretary, on Wednesday 29 April at 11am.

In the last Labour government she served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Housing Minister. Yvette recently launched Labour’s Women’s Manifesto with Harriet Harman and Gloria de Piero, featuring the infamous 'pink bus' (or 'magenta bus' if you’re that way inclined). She has been involved in policy debates on issues ranging from violence against women and compulsory sex ed, to immigration, policing and national security.

Yvette will be joining us for a live webchat at 11am on Wednesday 29 April. Do join in or leave a question on this thread if you can’t make it on the day. And do please remember our webchat guidelines.

Thanks
MNHQ

Apart from the odd mention of Trident, why is Defence being avoided in the election campaign or, as the Telegraph put it 'to be treated with derision' when homeland security issues are ever more acute, we have lost sailors off the coast of Scotland possibly due to a lack of quick response now the Nimrod has gone, we had to reinstate a fast jet sqn that was cut back just to cope with ISIL and the plan to vastly recruit Reserve forces has gone badly wrong?

@DrDre

Will you reopen the Forensic Science Service (FSS) after the current government closed it down? Failing that, do you think it would be a good idea to create a national institute for research into forensics? When the FSS was closed a lot of the researchers left the country, and an area in which we were international leaders has been lost to us. It would be great to re establish this national asset. It would cost peanuts in the context of the welfare bill for example, and would provide new technologies for the police.

i'm very worried about the loss of forensics. We used to be world beating in the use of science and the development of new techniques and technology for solving crime yet the Government seems to have thrown that away. and the system is becoming far more fragmented too. We've already set out plans which would require police forces to work together on procurement and IT and said that forensics needs to be reviewed as part of that. But I'd be interested in your views on the best way to restore our international expertise.

As part of the remit for Home Secretary is national security, where do you stand on people who want to return from Syria? I'm thinking of the teenage girls and families who have been in the press recently.

Do you think we should let them back or by travelling to Syria and joining ISIS they should lose their right to return to the UK?

@rubbishdeskhoover

Ed Balls day... let's be honest, it's wearing a bit thin now. Do you wish it would just stop? Have you explained it to your kids yet?

You mean everyone buying presents and everything? Pizza Hut, Coca Cola, the BBC all trying to get in on it? I agree with the tweeter who warned that Ed Balls day is all getting a bit too commercial these days, losing its true meaning.

Will you make sure that Rape Crisis services are as fully-funded as they need to be, and that the amazing women who work there, and who have such extensive experience in supporting women who have experienced violence, are included in formulating policy on VAW?

(Disclaimer: I don't work for and never have worked for Rape Crisis, but I know women who have, and I am staggered and impressed by the difficult work they do.)

@Isthiscorrect

Hi,

How do you feel by rejecting one of your constituents, a uni student, looking for work experience, currently studying social policy and government? Apparently you were too busy and it was too inconvenient security wise. Lucky not all MP's feel the same way. Surely you should be encouraging the youth of today? Or do you think the Labout has the young vote "in the bag"?

Really sorry not to have been able to help 'isthis correct'. I don't know the details of your case or when you were wanting to come. We do have lots of people in the Castleford office doing short work experience especially from local schools, we have had students in Westminster on University placements in the past, and we do offer paid internships when we can. But it is limited by the budget, the amount of desk space we have, whether people want to come to Castleford or Westminster and how many other people we have at that time. Good luck with your course though.

@JugglingFromHereToThere

Thanks for your excellent answer to my question on the weight given in politics to issues especially important to women. As a follow up question I noticed that you didn't pick up on the resourcing of maternity care aspect. Would Labour look into the resourcing of maternity care including post-natally if elected? I feel good support at this stage of a woman's life sets both her and her family up so much better for the future. As so often under-funding is such a false economy

Sorry, didn't mean to miss that bit. Isnt the most basic thing that we need more midwives? Having one to one care in labour is incredibly important, so too is the support afterwards. That's why Labour has pledged 3,000 more midwives as part of our Time to Care Fund - paid for by things like the mansion tax on homes over £2m. I also think we need to revive Sure Start - as one of the ministers involved in setting it up, I think its one of the most important things a Labour government did.

Hi Yvette,
Have you ever had to 'deal' with any sexism since being a politician?

And what will you do about young people including school children being groomed and recruited by religious/political extremists? At the moment there isn't any option for worried adults between "doing nothing" and "calling the police", which seems to be a major failure in the current strategy.

Yes, I'm an early years practitioner who's worked in Sure Start Children's Centres. Such a shame that this brilliant initiative for children and families has not been built on by this government but instead so many Children's Centres have closed - more than half closed in our city

Very glad to hear of the extra resources and plans for more midwives - agree this is key to improving provision for women around birth. I think some changes in the culture of birth are needed too, and support in the early weeks after birth, but hopefully better resourced midwives could bring this about!

@Pantone363

As part of the remit for Home Secretary is national security, where do you stand on people who want to return from Syria? I'm thinking of the teenage girls and families who have been in the press recently.

Do you think we should let them back or by travelling to Syria and joining ISIS they should lose their right to return to the UK?

The idea of British teenage girls leaving school for Syria, given the barbarism of ISIL, is really disturbing. Much more needs to be done to stop the radicalisation and grooming. Some of this is about child protection as well as preventing extremism and terror threats. And we've said Labour would overhaul the Prevent programme because there should be much more community involvement in preventing radicalisation. And for example, there should have been more work done in Bethnal Green Academy with pupils and parents as soon as one girl left, rather than waiting for her friends to follow.

If British citizens are trying to return from Syria then the police and security agencies need to assess every case to make sure Britain can be kept safe - in some cases there may be prosecutions, in others it may be about child protection, in others they should look at TPIMS (which arent being used at the moment). But we would also bring in new powers so that anyone returning can be required to attend the deradicalisation programmes that have proved very effective too.

@textfan

If you become Home Secretary what will you do about the disgustingly low conviction rates and sentences for rapists and child molesters? Do you think a revamp of the judicial system (getting rid of judges who think a woman 'asked for it') would be a major help to women and girl victims of these crimes?

This is a really important question. You're right that prosecutions and convictions for rape and child abuse are consistently low. And it worries me that after some limited progress in the 1990s and early 2000s, things are getting worse. We recently did some research that showed a 60% increase in reports of child sexual exploitation, but arrests had gone down 9%. And we know reports of rape have gone up significantly, but prosecutions and convictions are down. That means more criminals are getting away with it and more victims are being let down.

So firstly, I don’t agree with Theresa May that now is the time to cut 10,000 more police. These can be difficult crimes to investigate and in many areas the police are already struggling. So we have identified £800million of savings - including abolishing police and crime commissioners - to stop these police cuts.

Secondly, we will appoint a Commissioner for Domestic and Sexual Violence who will be a bit like the Children's Commissioner and hold public agencies to account for delivering real justice and improved support to victims of these terrible crimes.

Thirdly, we want to set up a new child protection unit, bringing together the work of different Government departments, so that we are all working together to keep our children safe

And finally, we have to stop messing around and introduce compulsory sex & relationship education in schools. We need young people – boys and girls – to be taught about health and respectful relationships and to have a zero tolerance to violence in relationships. In fact straight after this webchat, I am hopping on the pink bus to a school in Brentford to talk to young women - and men - about the kind of sex & relationship education they would like to see in schools.

And finally, we have to stop messing around and introduce compulsory sex & relationship education in schools. We need young people – boys and girls – to be taught about health and respectful relationships and to have a zero tolerance to violence in relationships. In fact straight after this webchat, I am hopping on the pink bus to a school in Brentford to talk to young women - and men - about the kind of sex & relationship education they would like to see in schools

Really glad to see this.

Please can you answer my question about D notices stopping M15 and police staff from giving evidence about VIP child abuse?
Nothing can change until this does!!
It's ok for senior politicians to abuse children as we can't investigate it, as it might compromise national security??

Only a few minutes left to talk about Council Housing, Social Housing, Housing Associations........Please??

I must say I hadn't properly heard the commitment to have more midwives, though I have followed the election campaign quite fully. I probably did hear something about more nurses and midwives but didn't register this as meaning better maternity care for women.

I do think some of the messages about what you would do better than the Tories through extra resourcing has been lost in the desire to stick to Tory budget constraints - a "we won't spend more than them" message.
To me Labour have taken this too far, and I'm not hearing enough about how your cuts would not be as harsh and severe as the Tories.
For this and other reasons I'm supporting the Green Party. Standing too in the local elections! But I would very much like to see a change in government and Ed Miliband as the new PM - as long as you listen to the Green voice as that's so important for all our futures!

How long will it take to have 50% female MPs and a 50/50 cabinet?

@Butteredparsnips

Hi Yvette may I have three? which department you would like to run other than the Home Office? Who are the up and coming Women MPs who you are hoping to work with? What do you think of the Liberal Democrat's proposals around improving access to mental health services to try to reduce crime?

There’s loads of departments where you can make a difference – and I’ve already had the chance to work in Work and Pensions, the Treasury and Housing.

In our Shadow Home Affairs team we’ve got some great women – Diana Johnson and Seema Malhotra – who I’m really keen to work with in Government as well - we've also previously had Shabana Mahmood and Stella Creasy work on Home Affairs previously. And of course there’s a lot of talented women in the Shadow Cabinet including Angela Eagle, Gloria de Piero, Rachel Reeves and Liz Kendall.... There’s too many to mention.

Access to mental health services is incredibly important. Ed Miliband has been clear that he wants to build an NHS where mental health is seen as equivalent to physical health. That hasn’t happened in the past. I have spoken to a lot of police who say they spend a huge amount of time dealing with issues that are really issues for mental health professionals. Over the last few years we’ve heard terrible stories about people affected by mental health conditions being locked in police cells, rather than being directed towards proper mental health services. That is unacceptable.

I would love to see a Labour/Green Coalition Juggling

@ouryve

Hi, Yvette.

Given the subtle moves towards a more cooperative, less tribal style of political debate and discussion, when you've finished ripping Theresa May a new one, in the Commons, do you then sit down and discuss matters over a cup of tea and a piece of cake ?

It’s a nice thought, but it doesn’t really happen. Theresa and I occasionally talk about issues of security, and I probably should have taken cake.

Thanks HeeHiles

@Mrsleighdelamare

Hi, according to someone I spoke to at the NSPCC, there?s nothing about online safety or tackling online abuse in Labour?s manifesto? What are the party's plans to help ensure the safety of our children online?

I made a speech to the NSPCC about child abuse at the end of February which set out our plans in some detail. Online child abuse is growing and neither the National Crime Agency or the police are keeping up. I feel very strongly that the system is completely failing to address this serious crime, with year long delays in investigations, and I have raised this repeatedly with Theresa May in Parliament. The National Crime Agency has been given the details of thousands of people suspected of downloading abusive images. Yet very few have been fully investigated, and the police say they just dont have the capacity to deal with it - even more reason why cutting thousands more police would be wrong. And the Home Office refuses to say how big the scale of the problem is. Labour would institute an urgent review of the way the entire criminal justice system is dealing with these cases.

We also want to see more done to improve controls and online safety for children and young people. But as most parents will testify, teenagers are rather better than we are at getting round any parental controls. So I still think most important of all is to build teenagers resiliance and teach respect through compulsory sex and relationship education in schools.

@PutUpWithRain

I don't have a question. I do feel I ought to apologise for that blogpost though... Sorry!

Don't apologise, I've never seen him so chuffed.

Sorry for all those I didn't manage to respond to. The Pink Bus has arrived and we're off to meet students in Brentford.
Thank you for the tea, biscuits and chat, Yvette

Thank you, Yvette.