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).

Yes, I know that, Mycatsabastard. But I want to be able to take part in the thing, as it happens!

I would like to ask Jeremy what inspired him to become a socialist, what/who were his greatest political influences? I would also like him to know that I admire his integrity.

Given that you can't make a meaningful impact in opposition and your current unpopularity in all polls of the general public, how do you plan to try and win the next election?

As the mother of a young daughter & as a woman myself, the questions you have been asked regarding gender & prostitution are very important to me so I would like to see those answered.

I see the two issues as being linked. That the continued view of women as sexual commodities & the very regressive promotion of gender roles will present many problems for young girls growing up. Neither are progressive.

Will also offer a credible opposition to these ideologies that harm women?

I cancelled my green membership this week following their continued cock up re gender. As prostitution and gender questions have been covered by others, I need to think of another question

So...legalisation of medicinal cannabis? Do you think you actually have a chance of it, should you win the leadership and if you were to win the next election?

PS, my DH has already voted (for you) and doesn't want me to ask a question, but wanted to say hi!

How are you going to address your colleagues' lack of confidence in you?

To take one example: how do you answer Heidi Alexander's statement that you did not discuss opposition to the Syrian air strikes with the shadow cabinet, but simply read out a pre-prepared statement? Is she lying? If so, why? (and why should we believe a career politician like you over a recently elected woman, with experience in the real world?) Do you think this is an effective way to lead? Are you incompetent, uninterested in working with colleagues, or uninterested in parliamentary democracy?

Why didn't you organise one of your huge rallies of loyal supporters during the remain campaign? I am a labour activist and (formerly) a huge admirer of yours. But your campaign was either hugely disorganised and incompetent, or deliberately dishonest - I.e. you did not really want to campaign for remain. Why did you take a week's holiday during the campaign? How can you call yourself either a leader or principled in light of that debacle?

Do you acknowledge that the post war liberal consensus has actually served very well in bringing peace and prosperity to the countries which took part in that and globalisation was and still is a key aspect of this?

Another former admirer here (like yellowflags I was hugely disappointed by your lukewarm support to the remain campaign).

If two thirds of my team were to say they have no confidence in my leadership, I would ask myself whether I was indeed at fault. Why don't you?

That's a genuine question: have you ever thought that your opponents may have a point, when they say your leadership was poor?

I would also like to see yellowflags question answered. Your silence on Brexit is deafening. I keep receiving reminders about the leadership vote (I voted for you last time) but am holding back at the moment, because I have heard no opposition from you to the current government stupidity around the referendum.

There is, as yet, no plan for Brexit. The government, particularly Fox, Johnson and Davis are clueless. The Leave campaign was based on lies - the biggest about the NHS. (I'm aware of their argument that they said could spend £350m not would, but this is disingenuous, as it was the headline slogan in their campaign.) 16-18 year old weren't allowed to vote, including young Scots who can vote in Scottish elections and it is their futures that will be most impacted.

I do not want to vote for a leader of the opposition who is silent on such a major issue or who is unwilling to condemn such a massive lie. I went to hear you speak in Brighton and agreed with everything you said about housing, transport, education, etc., but your failure to talk about the most important constitutional issue this country is facing was noted by many in the audience.

Jeremy, have you personally spoken to anyone in Momentum about their "lock up your dawtaz, it's big Corbaz" tweet? And if not, why not, since it's exactly the sort of thing (women as prey) which makes women feel that your brand of politics is hostile to them?

Note: "I didn't see it" isn't an acceptable answer. It was widely reported on, many people contacted you directly about it, and if your aides did not bring it to your attention, then they were not doing their jobs.

In relation to the abolition of zero hours contracts, what alternative opportunities will there be for people like me who require the flexibility of being able to accept or decline work when it is offered?

I don't want a guaranteed fixed number of hours, I want to be able to earn money as and when it suits me.

Oh gosh how to choose only one question? Ooh, I really want to talk about the Shami Chakrabarti's 'independent' enquiry into antisemitism, and your 'friends' in Hamas and Hezbollah, and whether you really did want to stay in the EU...

However my question is:

If reselected how will you represent the Labour Party if so much of the PLP may not agree with the ideals and approach of you and eg the shadow Chancellor, and who are concerned by the increasingly militant voice of momentum, but who are elected MPs, many with huge majorities? Will your shadow cabinet be truly representing the spectrum of opinion within the party, and will you be listening to and, more crucially, representing views which may not chime with yours?

Another one here who would like to see YouAreMyRain's question about prostitution answered.

I'll be away in my SafeSpace..

Jeremy what will you do to support and encourage more females into STEM jobs?

@BIWI

And by holding it at 2pm, you're not even making it easy for those of us who are at work to join in at lunchtime - seeing as most people have their lunch between 12.30/1.00 and 2.00pm!

Tbh with in-demand webchat guests we don't always get a lot of choice. We tend to steer them towards lunchtimes as that's when we have most traffic to the site and generally guest prefer working hours, but often we have to take what they can give us. Sorry if it doesn't suit all.

Please answer Hets question.

My MP an excellent MP, was on 'the list'.

Did you not know, he has no responsibility for anything done in his name by people who work for him. I wonder which one is employed to carry around the basin of water and the towel for his hand washing?

Jeremy, Given the way your own party, the press and some members of the public are attacking you at the moment despite you being fairly elected, I was wondering what your thoughts are on the way the unelected leader of the conservative party and Prime Minister is continuing to rip the heart and soul out of the country whilst ensuring the likes of herself and her fellow party members are benfitting from the decisions she makes?

(In awe of you btw )

If nothing else, this thread has prompted me to write to my MP and promise him my support if he has to stand as an independent candidate.

Please answer the transgender and prostitution questions. Owen smith was on here recently and dodged anything that didn't fit the format, 'would you agree you're wonderful, Owen?' These are really important questions for a significant amount of mumsnetters. I support you & have already voted for you - I know you won't dodge something because it's difficult or you think we won't like your answers.

(MNHQ: that's not my question! I'm thinking of a really good one(!) i'm just supporting the people asking those questions, because I'm interested in the answers )

I admire your integrity and the majority of your ideas, that fact that you don't condense your policies into a soundbite makes you more engaging.

But your leadership does not appear to be robust. I'm thinking about flipping my vote back to the Lib Dems to keep the Brexit tories in check.

Convince me how you are going to get your MPs to unite behind you?

You know who were fairly elected? The Tories. Who will be elected in the next election? The Tories. The swingometer will become a thing of the past. Political pundits will be bright eyed and bushy of tail on Friday mornings because they recorded their bit on the Thursday afternoon. The Tories will struggle to come up with anything for the Queen's Speech because they'll long ago have jumped the shark with their plan to scrap the Clean Air Act and create new training opportunities for 'vocationally oriented' children in one fell swoop with the extension of apprenticeships to the under 12s in their new Chimney Based Learning Initiative.