EU Referendum: Webchat with Amber Rudd MP, Monday 20 June at 8.30am

[BojanaMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a webchat with Amber Rudd MP on Monday 20 June at 8.30am. Amber is campaigning for the UK to remain in the EU.

Amber is the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. She has been the Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye since 2010. She says her focus for the constituency has been on ‘job creation, business investment, reducing unemployment and keeping the cost of living as low as possible’.

She also helped to organise Parliament’s cross-party inquiry into unplanned pregnancy, to which Mumsnet members contributed evidence, and which recommended better access to contraception and more sex and relationships education in schools.

Before Parliament, Amber worked in finance, then moved into specialising in recruitment and writing for financial publications.

The EU referendum will be held on 23 June.

Please do join the chat on Monday, or if you can’t make it, please leave a question here in advance. And do bear in mind the webchat guidelines - one question each only (follow-ups allowed if there’s time) and please do be polite.

Thanks
MNHQ

My understanding is that EU membership has significant implications for the energy market, but this area seems to have received minimal attention in the mainstream media. Please could you explain what implications Britain's EU membership has for the energy market, with a focus on how this impacts both business customers and consumers.

How can the country's energy requirements be met if the population rapidly increases to 80 million?

Do you have any regrets with how Cameron and Osborne have conducted themselves during the Remain campaign? I am voting IN but I find the behaviour by politicians on both sides to have been abhorrent and the messages sent out are ones to appeal to the darker sides of human nature.

Where is the positivity?

I hear it from Corbyn but (until today, for the worst possible reasons) he, and the rest of the Labour IN politicians, haven't been very visible at all in the media.

The people that I speak to, on both sides of the debate, are either fed up, unsure how to vote because of the spin on the figures, or sickened by the way this has turned into a ridiculous dark pantomime.

I'm sure you'll tell me that I've missed the positive bits but I have been following pretty closely and this is my truth.

Will you apologise to Boris for your very hostile and uncalled for personal attacks on him during the ITV EU debate?

Re: immigration figures. To me there is a risk of upside in the current net figure of 330,000 per year with youth unemployment figures of 40-50% in Southern Europe, Turkey holding the EU to ransom to stem the migrant flow from the Middle East and the accession of 4 new poor Eastern European countries during the next few years.

What does the future look like population wise in the country - are your working assumptions for net migration to exceed 330,000 given the comments above, and how will the Tory Government fund the massive increase in spending that will be needed without putting up taxes but with nascent GDP growth eg. quarter on quarter +0.4% (2016 Q1 from ONS)?

Hello Amber,

Why do you think British politicians have been so reluctant to make a positive case for the EU in the past years/decades? This campaign feels like too little, too late.

Thank you

The UK will need to build many new hospitals, homes and schools to meet the demand coming from the increased UK population.

Given the long lead times to build these (hospitals can take up to 10 years to plan and build) how will be cope in the interim? Could we be referred to hospitals in other EU countries for treatment?

Hello Amber,

The EU still seems to be unreformed and unreformable after many years. What reforms would you like to see, and what is the realistic chance of them happening?

Hello Amber
Having seen you on the ITV debate I was disappointed with your aggressive debating style and personal attacks on Boris Johnson. I an no fan of his but this is no way to win support or votes.
The remain panel spoke over everyone else and, to me, lacked and coherent and persuasive argument.
I wanted to convinced to vote remain but, so far have been unimpressed.
What can you say to persuade me? Please provide me with substantive reasons, not just platitudes about it being better for our economy; how exactly will it be and how, specifically will immigration be managed to ensure that our services and infrastructure can cope?

Hear hear ouch, I don't think politicians realise how much they are turning people away from this extremely important decision with their combative arguing; it all feels like scraping the bottom of the barrel in a bid to score points.

I like the way that the spin has done a u-turn and is now to play down the anti-immigration stance HA! Boris yesterday claiming his Turkish blood. We are all have ancestry from other countries, no matter how far back you have to look, it one of the things that makes the UK great.

If politicians want us to make this serious decision then they should be presenting their arguments without the hyperbole and being open and honest about what they do and do not know.

Hello Amber

What, if anything, do you dislike about the EU?

Hi Amber

What's on your schedule for Friday? How might your day be affected by the outcome of the referendum?

Thank you.

Hi Amber,

If we left the EU, would we have to accept free movement of people to trade in the single market like Norway?

Thanks

I'm pretty sure I'm going to vote for Remain, but I'm incredibly worried that the Brexit vote might carry the day. What single reason would you give anyone wavering on how to vote that would make them decide categorically to vote Remain?

Hi Amber,

I've heard that most migration is actually from people outside of the EU, what are your thoughts on this?

Good morning everybody, on this wet Monday morning! Here I am to take your questions and share views on the critical decision we're all making on Thursday. I hope I can help to shed some light on what the final outcome will mean to you, your families and businesses.

@SpringingIntoAction

Will you apologise to Boris for your very hostile and uncalled for personal attacks on him during the ITV EU debate?

Boris and I remain the best of friends. No offence was meant and none was taken. But I continue to disagree with him on the major issues here. I believe that leaving the EU would be a mistake and bad for families up and down the country.

When I think about how it will affect me and my family, I think about the opportunities for jobs, for my children aged 23 and 25. I worry that many companies have said there will be less jobs and less investment if we leave. I want them to have the same opportunities that I did, to be able to work abroad if they choose to and to live in a country which uses its influence to promote British values and peace through our strength leading the European Union.

@Appletreeblossom123

My understanding is that EU membership has significant implications for the energy market, but this area seems to have received minimal attention in the mainstream media. Please could you explain what implications Britain's EU membership has for the energy market, with a focus on how this impacts both business customers and consumers.

Really pleased to have the opportunity to answer this question. The EU energy market is changing. We are all moving to a lower carbon energy mix. We all agreed to reduce our carbon emissions at the end of last year at the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Britain’s energy market will benefit in terms of much needed investment and access to other sources of electricity and gas through working more closely with European countries.

I want our country to be leading the shape of the future energy market in the EU. We have already done that by playing a leading role at the Paris Agreement, we would lose that leading role if we weren’t in the EU. This is an area where there is huge change taking place, we need to be shaping those changes in the interest of the UK and families and businesses at home.

Addressing dangerous climate change is best done through a large bloc and the UK has always called on the EU to be more ambitious, playing a leading role in addressing the global problem of climate change – it’s something we continue to do successfully. We would lose that role if we left the European Union. That would be a huge waste of our clear and ambitious policies for reducing carbon emissions and addressing the dangerous impact they have.

@Limer

How can the country's energy requirements be met if the population rapidly increases to 80 million?

We will always ensure that there is sufficient energy for our needs. I will make sure that there is a good mix. We are committed to promoting renewable energy while ensuring that there is no risk to security of supply. So nuclear will continue to play a major role. Gas is also an essential part of the mix. And in order to keep costs down, we are also promoting interconnectors to access cheaper electricity and gas from the continent.

Hello Amber - thanks for coming on to MN. I have two questions if you get the chance - sorry, bit cheeky.

1. What is the likelihood of Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister before the year is out?

1. What can I say to progressive friends who have real problems with a federalist Europe - to the extent that they will probably vote leave, despite their constitutional leftyism?

@PrettyDumb

Hello Amber

What, if anything, do you dislike about the EU?

I'd like to see more women in the senior roles. Gender equality is important.

Dear Amber, I see someone has asked what you dislike about the EU. I am very firmly in the "remain" camp but the cookies law was not the EU's finest hour. Do you think that if we remain, the EU might have had a bit of a scare and might finally start listening to those who say there needs to be change - not just from the UK but from elsewhere too?

And another question: if we brexit, do you think the Common Travel Area is doomed? The Channel Islands are not in the EU yet part of it. So would it actually matter if the UK was not in the EU either?

Amber - do you think there's a key reason that women in particular should vote Remain?

@Chalalala

Hello Amber,

Why do you think British politicians have been so reluctant to make a positive case for the EU in the past years/decades? This campaign feels like too little, too late.

Thank you

I think that will change going forward. There is a positive case to be made and we've been hearing a lot of it during this campaign. One of the areas I continue to stress the UK plays a critical role in working with the EU to everybody's benefit, is addressing climate change. This is one of those areas where a country like our own acting alone won't have the sort of impact to really address the dangers ahead. We are only 1% of the world's emissions.

But using our influence to lead in the EU and to create global alliances we can change direction with carbon emissions and protect our future. This is a really positive example of the UK leading in the EU and influencing international positions.

@woeface

Hello Amber - thanks for coming on to MN. I have two questions if you get the chance - sorry, bit cheeky.

1. What is the likelihood of Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister before the year is out?

1. What can I say to progressive friends who have real problems with a federalist Europe - to the extent that they will probably vote leave, despite their constitutional leftyism?

Boris is a fantastic politician and a great MP... however, we have a Prime Minister and he was only elected a year ago. He has an important job to do.

On your second question - ask your friends to think again - progressive people want what the EU can help us to deliver. A more outward facing country that promotes our values abroad. Access to a single market that helps us to keep prices down, that's what we want for families.

Point out to them that we are not in a federalist version of the EU - we are specifically excluded from "ever-closer union". We are not in the Euro, we are not in the borderless Schengen free area. We have a special relationship with the EU in this way.

Finally, there will be nothing progressive about crashing an economy and the consequences that that will have for everybody.