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

depositdonut, thousands of new supporters have joined Labour because they like what Jeremy Corbyn is offering, so to say the party would be unelectable under him makes no sense whatsoever. The reason he is popular is because he offers an alternative to austerity - something the Labour party as a whole has failed to do. Let's not pander to the myth that austerity is the only way forward; it has been widely discredited by many leading economists.

I live in a town where the child poverty rate (under the old definition) is over 24%- this cannot, cannot continue- what would you do while in opposition to help the life chances of the many, many low income families?

@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?

Hello StregaNona - its not acceptable for anyone to be rude about party members who support any of the candidates, full stop! Your views must and will be heard. We all want an open and honest debate in the party about our future.

@pastaofplenty

Hello both Why is this important to YOU - not the country, the electorate or the Labour Party - YOU as an individual? Thank you

It's not really! I've been a member of the Labour Party all my adult life and have been proud to be a Labour MP for the past 32 years for the same constituency. I see my role as one of doing my best to serve my community - I'm not particularly into individualism or glamour and hope that if I am elected we could have a more inclusive and cooperative style of leadership. No one person is the fountain of all wisdom.

One of your supporters told the Stand Up For Corbyn rally on Sunday that Britain "isn't a country that is worth defending", to wild cheers.

Details here: order-order.com/2015/07/28/corbyn-rally-goes-wild-as-speaker-claims-uk-not-worth-defending/

Do you agree?

MrsGently what is sustainable about austerity? I mean, sustainable for the majority, not the privileges of a few?

Jeremy, you talk sense like a man who believes it. i wish that was not such a rare quality in politics. You have my vote.

@omnom

Liz, there have been a few moments in this campaign where it all seems to have gone a bit... 1970s in terms of attitudes to women; thinking specifically about the nonsense about mothers being better leaders and the row over Charlie Falconer's comments.

Do you think sexism has played a part in the campaign?

And do you want to give us a list of five leadership qualities that are more important than being a parent?

Jeremy, do you think Liz and Yvette have been on the receiving end of damaging sexist attitudes during the campaign?

Yes I do and I think people should be judged on the policies they're ennunciating and not on levels of bad attitudes or abuse that are heaped upon them by anybody else and some of our popular media. Actually, I don't do personal, I'm more interested in ideas and politics.

I wouldn't have had to go and join the green party if labour had been led by Corbyn in the last election....

@Jeremy - you already have my vote (and those of my husband and two eldest kids - my youngest is too young to be a member) but I would like to ask you, anyway - what is your position on the arts in general and arts education in particular? Charities like Arts Emergency are doing their best but the cuts are having a terrible impact and they are set to increase...

@DirtyMugPolice

Hi Jeremy and Liz

I am interested in your thoughts on support for parents returning to work after maternity leave. I am grateful of any support received to help with childcare fees, at the moment the only help you get is the 15 free hours once your child turns three. Why is it that this funding only starts at age three, and not at 9 months when statutory maternity pay runs out and the majority of parents have to return to work? Would you support helping working parents any earlier than age 3? Thank you and good luck with your campaigns!

Hi there, I think this is a crucial question. As Labour leader, I will commit to moving towards a system of universal free childcare. Childcare - paid and unpaid - creates tomorrow's community leaders, train drivers and nurses; it's time we valued it properly. A report commissioned by the last Labour govt showed that universal free childcare would actually be of net benefit to the economy, so the question is not how can we afford to provide free childcare, it's how can we not afford not to? This would be of massive support to all parents.

Thanks for your good wishes!

Dear Liz Kendall, what is it you like about Public Enemy I listen to them myself and I think their politics are much more in line with Jeremy Corbyn than yours, we have heard from Jeremy but how will you fight the powers that be, or are you there to support the power?

@eggsandham

Q for Jeremy - do you honestly believe you can win a general election as Leader of the Labour Party. I saw that in that recent poll it said that only 5% of people supporting you thought you could win a general election. I've been asking everyone I know who is supporting you, and not one of them will argue that you can. So, do you honestly believe you can?

Q for Liz - how do you respond to all of the people calling you a Tory? Can you tell us why you're in the Labour Party?

I joined the Labour Party because I believe everyone should have the chance to fulfill your potential - no matter where you're born, what your parents did, your gender, sexuality or the colour of your skin. I am passionate about tackling inequalities, and creating a fairer society. And i'll keep fighting for this until the day I die.

@TheOneWiththeNicestSmile

Jeremy, 2 points that the right-wing media have pounced on so far are the "friends in Hamas & Hezbollah" and, since the Andrew Marr programme, your failure to stand up & shout "I AM NOT A MARXIST!!!" I'm sure there will be other, increasingly desperate, smears as time goes on & especially if you do win (as so many of us profoundly hope )

You got a bit tetchy with Krishnan Guru-Murthy - unsurprisingly - but will you be able to deal calmly with all the smears in future?

I was interviewed by KGM a week later on a different subject and we got on fine. I was slightly irritated by his insistence on dealing with a serious subject in a very shorthand way.
Generally I'm an extremely calm person who does not get bothered by OTT comments made in my direction.
Apparently there's a round three and I'm looking forward to doing a selfie with him - on my camera!

Completely agree with Ghost. In regards to Tactical voting, I won't be giving 2nd, 3rd or 4th preferences.

@YeOldeTrout

Okay, so I actually paid the full whack of £60 to vote in this leadership election getting inundated by all your emails.

Jeremy: I love your passion. But I can't stomach a return to no tuition fees, it feels very regressive to subsidise people who are already very clever and capable to get even more ahead; they should take more risk of what their education will be good for.

Liz: I applaud you for saying that you would NOT bring back no tuition fees, that you want to concentrate on early years funding instead. Can you elaborate?

Q for both: was it a mistake of Labour to allow the £3 membership that means some people may have joined only to try to sabotage the election-of-leaders result?

My other tuppence is that Prescott is right: the result is the will of the party and nobody should be ruling out working with whoever wins.

No I don't think it was a mistake but I do hope that those people convert their support into membership, so that they can take part in the very important policy debates that must follow the election of a new leader. I would hope that we can reduce Labour Party membership fees in the future to ensure that we can retain a large and active membership.

Liz, you talk a lot of talk about protecting the vulnerable and the worst off in society. Do you not see this as totally incompatible with your capitulation to the views of the minority of the population (24% voted Tory, not 75%) that we should cap benefits? Furthermore, how can you commit to opportunities for children from all backgrounds when you support the tory's 2 child policy which would see the third (or fourth or fifth) child born to parents on benefits arbitrarily punished for being born into a large family?

Jeremy - I bloody love you. Joined the party before you entered the leadership election and was hopping around the room with joy when you got enough nominations. I haven't got any questions for you really as you're the only candidate to actually have produced documents laying out your plans for the economy/women's equality etc - speaking of which Liz - where are your policies?!

Jeremy: do you REALLY believe the people voting now are the people delivering leaflets etc? How do explain the huge numbers of new members?!

@JeremyCorbynMP

[quote omnom] Liz, there have been a few moments in this campaign where it all seems to have gone a bit... 1970s in terms of attitudes to women; thinking specifically about the nonsense about mothers being better leaders and the row over Charlie Falconer's comments.

Do you think sexism has played a part in the campaign?

And do you want to give us a list of five leadership qualities that are more important than being a parent?

Jeremy, do you think Liz and Yvette have been on the receiving end of damaging sexist attitudes during the campaign?

Yes I do and I think people should be judged on the policies they're ennunciating and not on levels of bad attitudes or abuse that are heaped upon them by anybody else and some of our popular media. Actually, I don't do personal, I'm more interested in ideas and politics.[/quote]

Yep, sometimes it has felt a bit 1970s...or even 1950s! I'm a feminist - I believe women should be judged by their ideas, their values, and what they have to contribute...not by what they wear, what they look like, or their family situation or relationships. We have a painfully long way to go before that's the case...

@gartner101

Jeremy, as someone challenging power, as Labour leader the corporate media are certain to subject you to an unrelenting, aggressive, mendacious campaign to ridicule or demonise you. Foot's donkey jacket, Kinnock's 'It's The Sun Wot Won It' and Milliband's bacon sandwich are the kind of things waiting for you. My questions are: 1) Are you emotionally tough enough to handle this treatment and 2) What strategy do you have to neutralise its impact and prevent it from stopping Labour winning the general election.

It's a bit sad when so much media are only capable of concentrating on personal and often abusive comments, and obviously devalues the whole political process. I'm someone that sleeps easy and is happy to look at myself in the mirror each morning. I think having a balance in life between work and other things is important and actually makes one better as a public representative.

Liz Kendall: "I joined the Labour Party because I believe everyone should have the chance to fulfill your potential - no matter where you're born, what your parents did, your gender, sexuality or the colour of your skin" UNLESS you're the third child in which case you're fucked.

well indeed...not getting the abstentions if this is what labour stands for..

I'd like to ask what Liz thinks of all the name calling and denigration of Jeremy and those supporting him that's been coming from Labour MPs and if those MPs have a place in the party if Jeremy were to win?

@Wassat

I live in a town where the child poverty rate (under the old definition) is over 24%- this cannot, cannot continue- what would you do while in opposition to help the life chances of the many, many low income families?

I completely agree, and I think the biggest thing we've got to do is tackle child poverty and inequality in the earliest years of life. Children in the most deprived parts of the country start school on average 15 months behind where they should be in terms of their development. They play catch up for the rest of their lives, and struggle to get 5 decent GCSEs let alone have the chance to go to college or university. We need to look at how midwives, health visitors, social workers, Sure Start and all the other early years services work to better support families in the crucial 0-5 years of a child's life. That would be a top priority for me as Labour's next Leader.

Thanks for refreshingly direct answer to the sexism question jeremy

Liz do you want to say any more about the 'politicians must be parents to really understand voters' stuff? I suspect most MN posters think that's a load of nonsense so lord knows what everyone else must think

Q to both- what are you going to do about crisis in mental health services? Lack of acute beds across all sections of psychiatry and hugely under-resourced community care to boot. Will you commit to ensuring no mentally ill child or adult ever ends up inside a police cell?

I met Luciana Berger last year and was impressed by her coming to my old Mother and Baby Unit and meeting with current and former psychiatric patients there. I hope she plays a part in the next labour govt.