Heads up - webchat with Jeremy Corbyn Monday 19th Sept @ 2pm.

[JustineMumsnet]

Hello,

We’re pleased to announce a webchat with the leader of the Labour Party (and candidate in the current leadership election) Jeremy Corbyn MP on Monday 19 September at 2pm.

Jeremy has been MP for Islington North since 1983, and before 2015 was best known as a rebellious backbencher and chair of the Stop the War coalition. His leadership of Labour over the past year has inspired enthusiastic support as well as attracting sustained criticism. Among other things, he’s taken a new crowd-sourced approach to Prime Minister’s Questions, opposed military intervention in Syria and proposed the renationalisation of the railways.

His last webchat on Mumsnet (alongside fellow leadership candidate in 2015, Liz Kendall) featured lively discussions about socialism, electability and the provenance of Jeremy’s vests (Holloway Road market, since you ask).

Please do join the chat on Monday at 2, or if you can’t make it, leave a question here in advance. If you know people who you think would like to ask Jeremy a question, do please share the link around on social media too.

(If you’re interested in our webchat with the other Labour leadership candidate Owen Smith, take a look here .)

As always, please do keep in mind our webchat guidelines - one question each, follow-ups if there’s time and above all, keep it civil [taps nose like that geezer Shaw Taylor in Police 5] (Horribly showing my age there).

Hi Jeremy,

I am generally hugely supportive of your policies, but I'm curious to know how you are planning to support mothers (and fathers) who choose to care for their own children rather than seeking other childcare provision?

The vast majority of research shows, especially in the early years, that there are huge developmental benefits to children having their parents as their primary carers, but most government policies seem to focus on getting parents into work as quickly as possible.

As part of a family who are trying to do things differently, with a mixture of part-time working, working from home and hands-on childcare, it feels like we are overlooked by the mainstream parties. I'd love to hear your thoughts about how our choices might be supported too!

Thanks,
Sophie

Imagining Jeremy Corbyn typing his answers very slowly with two fingers whilst Seamus Milne, at another screen, deletes the hostile questions.

This isn't Jeremy Corbyn. This is someone copy pasting responses

Certainly a weighty debate on this chat today!

Are you ever tempted to just ask May (or Cameron) to stop making crap jokes and snide comments and answer the fucking question at PMQs?

I know I would.

I'll try again in case I was missed!
Hi jeremy,
Thanks for being the labour leader and continuing despite such a hostile environment from pretty much everywhere!

I believe that the most important policy for labour should be the introduction of a guaranteed citizens income. This would solve multiple problems such as housing, benefits, discrimination of various kinds and the fact that we are heading towards a more automated/computerised workplace economy.
Do you agree?

What can you suggest to help me obtain an EHC plan for my young son who has ASD, he has been turned down twice now and as a result, is in a mainstream school who have already admitted they are not coping. My local Conservative MP, George Eustace, has made disparaging remarks about single mothers in the past, so I am disinclined to ask for his help. I am a huge supporter, by the way, and think you have coped with an enormous amount of abuse in an admirably dignified manner.

You raise the issue of the 11+ in your opening post.

How do you propose to deal with the blatant unfairness in the current system of secondary education, which is based on selection by house prices, and offers no alternatives to children from poor families whose local comprehensives happen to be lousy, but whose families cannot afford to move to the catchment of a better one?

What about those children whose families, unlike yours, cannot afford to send their kids to a prep school and who are not given the option that you had of going to an excellent state grammar school? Why would you deprive others' children of the advantages you yourself enjoyed?

And what do you feel about Diane Abbott opting to send her son to private school but wishing to prevent others from sending their children to selective schools? How can you possibly justify this?

Jeremy could you answer the questions about prostitution and gender identity? I think you would recognise the problem with addressing the oppression of a class of people if that class no longer has the language to discuss it, as Orwell recognised.

Jeremy, which is most important to you: faffing around with momentum kids re-education clubs or actually credibly opposing the Tories terrible education policies?
Actually, don't bother. i already know the answer

@Evie80

Housing is a big issue especially here in the South West where wages are low and house prices high. Will the Labour Party look at regulating private rentals, to give more security to tenants and reduce the amount paid to landlords via Housing Benefit?

Housing is a huge issue across the whole of Britain. In the south west there are specific issues of endemically low wages, seasonal work, holiday lets dominating the private rental market. I am interested i the referendum which took place in St Ives to prevent the growth of the second homes market to ensure the local people got tenancies. Specifically we will be regulating the private rental sector to give longer security of tenure and we have to build more council houses and reduce the cost of private renting. At the moment we pay £9.5bn per year in housing benefit to private landlords.

Hi Jeremy. Are you going to support libraries and sure starts staying open and create more support groups to facilitate home educators?
Please clarify your position re:keeping local services open in cities like liverpool where funding is more needed.

@VanillaSugarandChristmasSpice

What's your favourite biscuit?

I'm totally anti-sugar on health grounds, so eat very few biscuits, but if forced to accept one, it's always a pleasure to have a shortbread.

..

Lots and lots of questions about gender identity and prositution. I too would be grateful for an answer.

I can also touch type, do you want me to pop by?

Yes we can comment on the answers given, but must stay polite and civil. Often there's a good debate afterwards.

Does it concern you that your lack of popularity with the general public could lead to another Tory government, with an even larger majority?

Please don't tell me about your popular movement. I'm talking of the millions of voters, who simply would never vote for you because they don't agree with your policies. Even those of us who have always voted Labour.

Last answer paraphrased:

1st para: I feel very strongly about this
2nd para: This is definitely a problem
3rd para: I will encourage women and girls into STEM jobs by encouraging them into STEM jobs and asking schools to encourage them into STEM jobs.

What a lot of blather to say fuck all.

sigh
You didn't answer the question. From which I can only infer that the actual winning of an election and forming a government is less important than building a movement. Which means that we're likely to have the Tories in power for the next nine years. Thanks a bunch!

Are you ever tempted to just ask May (or Cameron) to stop making crap jokes and snide comments and answer the fucking question at PMQs?

I am sure he is, watching PMQs is like watching a bunch of kids trying to outdo each other with 'LOLZ'. Its embarrassing. I think Jeremy is a breath of fresh air with his face then carrying on with serious questions.

Couldn't you just give us nice short answers and not write an essay? That way you'll get through a lot more questions.

Well a bonus is he's not doing a hard sell on a recently published book like Ed Balls did last week

Jeremy, I'm quite sure that my question about prostitution was the second question on here...

You answered a question on biscuits bug avoided any slightly challenging question? Are you really PM material?

The answers are (usually) typed by an mnhq-er, so no typing with two fingers should be happening