Labour leadership hustings - Webchat with Jeremy Corbyn and Liz Kendall, Tuesday 28 July 2015 at 12pm

[BojanaMumsnet]

Hello

Following on from Friday's webchat with Yvette Cooper, we’re pleased to announced the second of our Labour leadership hustings webchats with Jeremy Corbyn and Liz Kendall, tomorrow at 12 noon.

Jeremy Corbyn has been an MP for North Islington since 1983. In addition to his involvement with local organisations and community groups, he has a keen interest in international affairs and is the chair of the Stop the War coalition, which he helped establish in 2001. Jeremy’s candidacy for the Labour leadership has triggered a flurry of headlines and soundbites.

Liz Kendall was elected as Labour MP for Leicester West in 2010. She is the Shadow Minister for Care and Older People. Her focuses include improving public services and making society fairer, and she has previously been the Director of the Ambulance Service Network and of the Maternity Alliance charity. Liz has recently spoken out against sexism in politics, following a row about remarks made by a supporter of Andy Burnham’s candidacy.

Please join us for the webchat at 12pm tomorrow if you can, or post a question for Jeremy and Liz 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

@3packtissues

I was interested to see you'd been involved with the Maternity Alliance Liz. Have you had a chance to look at the EHRC's recent report about maternity and pregnancy discrimination, and how it's much worse than anyone thought?

How would you tackle this issue, given the importance for Labour of keeping business on side? What's your response to the widespread attitude that pregnant women and women on mat leave are unacceptably expensive for small business owners?

Hi 3packtissues, yes I have seen the report and unfortunately it didn't surprise me to see pregnancy discrimination at work is still a real problem. When i was Director of the Maternity Alliance we took up cases on behalf of women who'd been discriminated against, often working with trade unions, and this kind of action is still essential. Good companies know it makes sound business sense to make sure they have decent maternity leave and flexible working policies so women can go back to work after they've had a baby. Government, business organisations and trade unions need to do more to clearly spell out the legislation and the positive benefits to businesses.

Dear Jeremy, thank you for offering something refreshing to British politics it is about time that someone of your talents has been brought to the front to challenge the status quo you have been too long on the back benches and after this I sincerely hope that you come down to the front, preferably to lead a new party. Does it necessarily take a women leader to stand up for women's issues, or do you think that you could offer just as much if not more than other women in the race?

Hi Liz

Is it just me, or is Jeremy Corbyn very sexy?

Thanks!
SM00

@littlesilver1

Hello both. Could you both please give us, in one sentence, ONE big idea? Something that could make people want to sign up and vote for you? Something that makes you stand out?

Yesterday we launched the idea of a National Education Service to provide universal free education throughout people's lives. This would benefit all of us because we all benefit from each other's knowledge and skills.

Hi Jeremy
What can we do about the high fees letting agents are charging? My small family are having to move as our current landlord is selling up. We can't afford to pay all the ridiculous add on fees that Fulfords letting agents are asking for (e.g Pet Licence Fee £75! My cat can't afford this) I'm worried how we will ever get on the property ladder :(
Good luck with everything Jeremy, we are rooting for you (and us!)

@AlphaBravoHenryFoxtons

Q for Jeremy

I've heard many Labour supporters say they must put electoral success before political ideology. This makes my blood boil. How do you feel when you hear this nonsense?

I think Labour needs a leader who believes in something, preferably something socialist. I think you are the ideal. Politics is ready for a beard.

Good luck.

I'm not sure where the contradiction is here. Political ideology does not have to be obscure and academic it is about what people believe. Whether a society should care for everybody or simply reward the few. My views of the world are born of a passion for justice in all its forms.

To both candidates what is your vision for Britain in 2020? What policies and strategy will you bring to the political table on welfare, the economy, childcare and human rights?

@amothersplaceisinthewrong

Jeremy

Will you do the decent thing and stand down now.

Thanks. Can I pose a question back to you. What would be decent about removing myself from a process in which many people have put in a huge amount of time and energy to develop a good, decent alternative political strategy for our party?

@didyouwritethe - think your question should be "Should peers and MPs of any political party guilty of sexually abusing children continue to govern the country; if not, what are you personally going to do about it"

Jeremy if labour continue to swing right wards chasing the tories, if you lost the leadership/ won it but found the job of herding right wing cats impossible......would you and other left wing labour MPs consider joining the Green Party? Your polices seem to coincide nearly 100% with those outlined by the Greens?

@StregaNona

I plan to vote for Jeremy. I am angry and upset at the name-calling from the rest of the Labour party / media / world about this choice.

I am not a moron, I do not need a heart transplant. I am not under-educated or naïve.

My question for Liz is - why do the rest of the Labour party seem to think it is acceptable to be so audaciously rude about Jeremy Corbyn's supporters? If he does not win, what would you do to ensure that those who supported him feel included and heard?

My question for Jeremy is - how do we help the rest of the Labour party realise that thinking people can be left wing and that being called left-wing is not an insult?

I suggest to people who get worried about being insulted, they read Oscar Wilde on the definition of Socialism.

@fizzicles

Jeremy,

You've defied the whip many many times. Would you expect loyalty from your parliamentary colleagues and do you think your history as a rebel would hinder this?

If I'm elected leader of the party I would seek to be as broad and inclusive as possible, consistent with the economic, social and international directions I wish the party to follow, and would encourage discussion and debate. The best leaders encourage people rather than instruct them. It's interesting you describe me as a rebel, whereas I would defend my parliamentary voting record as being one of defending civil liberties and constantly in search of economic justice for the people of this country.

@ilovesooty

Hi Jeremy Thank you for standing and you have my vote. If you win how do you propose to choose your shadow cabinet and enhance the profile of women in the party? Hi Liz Will you work for the good of the labour party if it means serving under a leader whose politics you fundamentally disagree with? If not, how do you view your political future?

Thank you so much. I have committed to 50% women shadow cabinet, and to work towards 50% of Labour MPs being women. This is hugely important - we cannot waste women's expertise, and we must be impatient for real equality.

@Quirkybird36

As a primary school teacher, I see a major crisis looming due to the appallingly poor provision of child mental health services. What are the views of each of you on this subject?

Hi, this is a really important question and I agree that there is an emerging crisis in children's mental health services. I had a terrible case in my constituency of a child with serious mental health problems struggling to find a bed anywhere in the country, and eventually being sent miles away from her family which made the whole situation far, far worse. I think that all NHS staff should be trained in mental health issues, and that we need to shift the focus of services towards prevention - including with a greater emphasis on good mental health in schools. Cutting preventative services in the community is wrong for children, and it doesn't make financial sense either because children end up in crisis and having to use more expensive hospital care.

Where is Liz?

@CallOfTheRiled

Jeremy, you have voted against the party whip 500 times! What right would you have to expect any loyalty from Labour MPs, especially as most of them won't have voted for you as leader?

This election is by a huge constituency of party members and supporters and for the first time the only role of the parliamentary is to allow or not somebody to be a candidate, and I'm sure all my colleagues fully appreciate we're only in parliament because of the support we received from local parties and our voters and it's to them we answer.

Please advise on tactical voting. You've got my first choice. Who shall I vote for second? That is, who is the most left, Burnham or Cooper?

"What would be decent about removing myself from a process in which many people have put in a huge amount of time and energy to develop a good, decent alternative political strategy for our party?"

There's nothing good or decent about getting elected to leader to make the party completely unelectable. Please stop wasting everyone's time.

Sorry, my Q above on home education was @Jeremy

Yes, where IS Liz?

@MrsGentlyBenevolent

Jeremy, I (like most realistic thinking voters) would like to know how exactly you plan to convince the whole of Britain come 2020, that your idealism could be made into working politics. I am yet to be convinced of your overtly left wing views, and fear your brand of politics will only lead to another 5 years of Tory government. From what I understand of your views thus far, if you became leader of Labour, the party would certainly lose my vote, such unsustainable politics are just flights of fancy. Whilst I do not disagree with your sentiments, Labour needs to prove that it cannot and will not allow the economy to fall into recession again. How do you believe that your views on the living wage, welfare state and expanding the public sector would be supported?

Thanks - I think we should be realistic that the problems of the last Labour government were not that it spent too much, but that it insufficiently regulated our banking system, and the recession was caused by that and the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the USA. A living wage would obviously make many people better off and save a great deal of our welfare budget, which actually subsidises low wages, as it subsidises high private sector rents. On expanding the public sector, over 60% of the electorate agree that the railway system and Royal Mail should be in public ownership (including a majority of Tory voters) - surely they can't all be wrong?

Thanks for answering my question on the EHRC report Liz. I think there needs to be a systematic approach to pregnancy and maternity discrimination employment tribunals, including removing the fees for getting a hearing, and real penalties for employers who don't pay their fines promptly.

There seems to be a tension between 'supporting business' and 'supporting workers' rights' which lots of people in Labour struggle with. I'd be interested to see a candidate who can square this circle.

@BeanAboutTown

Ooh

Hello Jeremy. Do you think it's true that the average swing voter would be turned off Labour if you were leader?

Hello Liz. Apparently you support workers' representation on executive pay committees which I think is an interesting idea. Are you in favour of a more wholesale approach to workers' representation at the top level of businesses, on the German model (co-determination) - or is it only about pay?

Hi BeanAboutTown, thanks for your question. I want to see workers having more of a stake and a say in companies. A couple of weeks ago I went to visit Gripple, a brilliant modern manufacturing company in Sheffield. Employees own shares in the company and elect someone onto the board. The staff told me this gives them a real sense of ownership in the success in the company - and its a model I'd like to see expanded more widely.

as a party member of 30 years don't step down Jeremy - you make the party much more appealing to most people but offering an alternative

@depositdonut

Jeremy - you might win the leadership election but you will not win a general election.

Surely it is better that the party wins rather than loses, even if you do not agree with its leader 100%.

With that in mind, why won't you step aside so the Labour party has a better chance of winning the next election?

Thanks! I love the question. We haven't yet elected the leader of the party and it seems slightly odd to ask someone to withdraw from a contest that's still going on, and more than a bit unfair on those people who wish to see the views I'm articulating put before party members. Just a thought, the people who are voting in this election are the people who deliver leaflets, knock on doors and engage voters all year round, who must have a pretty good idea of how people think.