Labour leadership hustings - Webchat with Yvette Cooper TODAY Friday 24 July at 2.30pm

[BojanaMumsnet]

Hello

Ahead of the Labour leadership election, we’ll be hosting webchats with all four candidates - Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn and Liz Kendall.

Due to the candidates’ busy schedules (it’s like herding cats), we haven’t been able to get everyone in one room at the same time, so we’ll kick off tomorrow with Yvette Cooper, MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford and Shadow Home Secretary, who will join us for a live webchat on Friday 24 July, 2.30pm - 3.15pm.

In the last Labour government Yvette served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Housing Minister. She is a big fan of Dr Who and the Sound of Music. She has three children, and (as you probably know) she’s married to Ed Balls, Labour’s former Shadow Chancellor.

Before the general election, Yvette 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 issues ranging from violence against women and compulsory sex ed, to immigration, policing and national security.

Please join us for the webchat at 2.30pm tomorrow if you can, or post a question for Yvette here in advance if you can’t.

Labour leadership voting is open until Thursday 10 September and the ballot results will be released on Saturday 12 September.

Thanks

MNHQ

Hi Yvette. As a mother of three young children, how important do you think it is that SRE is taught effectively in schools and would you support compulsory SRE if elected leader?

Hi Yvette,
As a family we have been hit hard by the changes to Child Tax Credits - ours have been cut by 60%!

My husband and I are both self-employed which we are just to keep ourselves in work. We cannot therefore be union members. We also live in a largely rural area. I'd like Labour to remember that there are many Labour supporters out there who do not fit the inner city/northern/union template. What will you be doing to indicate Labour is also the most relevant party for us. TBH during the election campaign several people in similar situations to me, asked me why they should vote Labour and I found it difficult to come up with any solid reasons for them.

Thanks.

@ChazzerChaser

Hi Yvette

At the hustings I went to Jeremy made a good point about shifting the debate to make the case for Labour principles such as the welfare state. I see too much responding in new right terms to the new right agenda from Labour at the moment.

What scope do you think there is for labour setting the debate and making the argument for more socialist ways of seeing the world, rather than just responding within a neoliberal conversation?

Ps I'm pretty sure you have my vote, although I keep wavering to Jeremy.

We have to have the confidence to stand up for Labour values not just give in to what the Tories say. People are being given a false choice at the moment; on the one hand, stand up for your principles and be unelectable, on the other hand ditch your values in order to win votes. Neither of those is the right thing to do - and neither will work, either for the Labour Party or for the country.

I believe we have to argue strongly against things like George Osborne's 40% spending cuts, or the assault on working families and I think there is a deep difference of principle between Labour and the Tories on this. They think that things like public services or tax credits are bad because they increase dependence. Parents know that good public services and tax credits help give us independence - they help pay childcare so parents can work, or help you get a GP appointment so you arent stuck at home sick for days on end.

But where I differ from Jeremy is that I think it isnt enough to protest, I think we have to be practical, offer Labour alternatives and be determined to win the election too, otherwise we wont be able to change anything.

Good Afternoon,
Living in Kent we are yet again at standstill due to Operation Stack being implemented for the 6th time within a month. Businesses are suffering, residents are beyond frustrated. Although the problem is nothing of Kent's doing, as it is a result off what is happening in France, it is the people of Kent who are paying the price. The news reports say a Government solution is needed, so I ask, if you became the next Prime Minister, what would you do?

Please could you tell me your strategy for defeating ISIS if you were prime minister. It would be nice to see you answer a non-austerisy, non-typical 'women's' issue. Thank you.

Non-austerity, sorry!

Scotland. (sigh)

I was impressed that you were the first candidate to come up to Scotland and appear to have a better than average grasp of the situation here and the importance of it.

Can you see how unhelpful the fudge over abstaining on the first reading after the reasoned amendment failed? It plays right into the SNP hands. Please realise that UKIP are watching the SNP's success in ousting Labour north of the border carefully and echoing some of their anti-labour rhetoric.

Other than that... Which was more a statement than a question!

Climate change, what policies would you pursue to ensure that Britain plays a leading role in ensuring that we have a habitable planet to pass to our children and grandchildren?

@VenusianAikido

Yvette, I have a few questions for you:

1. Some of the leadership candidates are visiting the South West to give local party members an opportunity to meet/talk to/listen to them. Will you be visiting too?

1. What are your policies on the arts and arts education? This is an area which has been largely ignored by all the leadership (and most of the dputy leadership) candidates which sadly speaks volumes in itself...

1. Are there any of Jeremy Corbyn's stated policy positions with which you agree, and any which you might adopt yourself?

Hi Venusian Aikido. Yes – I’ll be coming to the South West and hope to meet you in person there.

You are right about the arts. We haven’t talked about them anywhere near enough in the last five years. I actually talked about this in an interview with the Guardian recently as I think we should have a much stronger focus on arts and drama in schools. Gove’s education plans have been massively regressive. I think we need to looking at how we can ensure children leave school with a well-rounded education, and there should be much more focus on children’s wellbeing as well as their ability to pass exams.

Jeremy and I agree on the importance of defending the human rights act which David Cameron wants to abolish and that we should oppose cuts to tax credits.

Hi Yvette, with feelings running high and labour losing supporters over the perceived abstination of the welfare bill, why haven't labour made it clear that that they wanted an amendment to the bill and and weren't voting in favour of the welfare bill. I believe this would have reassured a lot of labour supporters who are currently on the cusp.

Did you skip a few pages of questions there? some from the bottom, some from the top?

Ah well.

@alexgreenwich123

Hi Yvette. As a mother of three young children, how important do you think it is that SRE is taught effectively in schools and would you support compulsory SRE if elected leader?

I strongly support compulsory Sex and Relationship Education in all our schools, I've been campaigning for it for many years. At a time when there is growing evidence of violence in teenage relationships, and when we know many children are exposed to all kinds of abuse and violent pornography online its more important than ever that children learn respect and zero tolerance of abuse in relationships.

Sometimes people say it can all be solved by parents talking to their children and having parental controls on computers. I'm all in favour of parental chats and parental controls, but to be honest i have to ask my children how to use the parental controls, and I know the last thing most teenagers want is to discuss sex education with their mum or dad!

@IceBeing

Did you skip a few pages of questions there? some from the bottom, some from the top?

Ah well.

Hi IceBeing,

Webchat guests don't tend to answer questions in chronological order - there will always be an element of answering a mix of old and new posts in to cover as many different topics as possible.

Oh, I like your answer about arts and drama in schools!

Oh - the last few webchats I was on pretty much worked their way up the list....must have been flukes!

Regarding the rhetoric about voting for Jeremy 'locking Labour out of power for a generation'... If Labour are basically Tory-lite, I'm unsure as to why I should mind if they are 'locked out of power'?

I like the response I had too. After reading the Times article in Costa earlier, that response should remove anyone from WEP having to stand against Yvette.

I must say Yvette, I would like more of this as your written response is coming across as authentic.

Hi everyone,

Good news - Yvette was booked in to join us for 45 minutes, but has agreed to stay on for a full hour until 3.30pm, to get through as many questions as possible.*

disclaimer; questions may not be answered in chronological order, IceBeing*

MNHQ

Thanks Yvette for staying on! It's great reading your answers

@didyouwritethe

How much priority do you give to telling the truth about child sex abuse by MPs and government officials, including - and most importantly - ones who are still alive and working in government?

Hi didyouwritethe,

The absolute highest priority. It is a moral duty to bring to justice those who have committed child abuse and to extend protection for children.

We must get to the truth around allegations of historical abuse at the heart of the establishment. We keep being told that all the files have been opened and then as we saw this week, more evidence of apparent cover-ups emerges. The judge led inquiry I first called for several years ago is finally getting going now and it’s extremely important.
There can be no hiding place for those who want to abuse or exploit children whether it be online, from positions of power or by travelling abroad. The police have to be given the powers and ability to follow the evidence wherever it takes them and bring those who commit these terrible crimes to justice.

Great answer, thanks.

gosh-feeling properly told off now

Life long labour voter and now party member as I wanted to have some part in the decision making process and be involved more fully in the fight back. I am in Scotland and want to know how you would, as leader, plan to make Scotland feel part of Labour again? What strategies do you see as the way forward or do you see Scottish Independence as an inevitability further down the road? How can you bring Scottish voters back to the party while Nicola Sturgeon seems to speak more directly to the Democratic socialists in the North

True or not - on reading that 47 labour MPs are plotting to overthrow Jeremy Corbyn should he win the leadership begs the question why oh why were 47 not found to get rid of the unelectable Ed Miliband. The public knew he was unelectable, but the party stayed with him all the way to a humiliating defeat. I have been a Labour supporter for over 40 years and despair, you have my vote btw.

hmm...I had been thinking that if Corbyn got in then it would be the choice of the party and how could that really be wrong...

how could I have forgotten so soon the whole 'wrong brother' episode?!?!?

I need my memory checking!

Thanks for your reply Yvette. I hope you do make it down to Devon. My CLP nominated you, and I think I will probably vote for you too, but it is important that any future leader does recognise that there is a world outside London and the North!