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).

What do you plan to do to practically to stop the abuse and misogyny that is currently occurring within the Labour movement to ensure that the party is inclusive and welcoming to the wide spectrum of political views and opinions?

I am another one who is deeply concerned by the suggestions of deselecting MPs.

I too would like the gender questions answered.

Will think of my question and comeback later

I'm sorry, I don't know the convention on answering questions on Q&As, but would like to recommend Toni Mac's Ted Talk on sex work, and also say that I've been very concerned about the statistic many people report about the demand for sex work going up after decriminalisation, and about violence going up, so I've done as much research as I can on this. The statistics are based on an evaluation report made soon after New Zealand had decriminalised sex work and according to just plain wikipedia, the allegations seem to have been discredited. If you google wikipedia New Zealand sex work and go to aftermath, you can see the facts.

I am not a sex worker, and I have been conflicted about sex work for a long time so have been reading as widely as possible (again, recommend the Toni Mac ted talk, easily googlable. But I see this coming up again and again as a critisism of Corbyn's feminism and a proof of his misogyny, and I think that listening to sex workers talking about sex work and the changes they would like to see does not for me indicate misogyny in any way. Quite the reverse.

I'm in an obvious minority on here as a Conservative voter.

I would like to ask why you insist on continuing as leader, despite this causing the Party to split and because you must know that with you as leader, Labour are unelectable in a GE or is it that you really don't care about either of those things?

I also wondered if you think it is wrong that Theresa May has not called a GE (just like Brown didn't) or if you think it's a blessing considering the current state of Labour?

Thank you.

and I think that listening to sex workers talking about sex work and the changes they would like to see does not for me indicate misogyny in any way. Quite the reverse

quail sex workers are not a monolith, and plenty of them would like to see the Nordic Model implemented. I listen to sex workers, too - just not the same ones as you. Their views are equally valid.

May I suggest that if you want to discuss this further, you take this discussion onto one of the threads already discussing this, or start your own? I think there's plenty of people who would be willing to talk about it with you.

New Zealand doesn't have the people traffic like the UK does (I'm from New Zealand), I don't think you can compare the UK to New Zealand in that respect.

Do you find it funny that people began calling you unelectable shortly after your landslide election win?

Frank Field seems to be the main Labour MP who is actually in touch with electorate at the moment. He strikes me as 100% genuine HUMAN man, who looks at a situation for what it is, not from a socialist Tory hating slant.

We need strong opposition and I hope you are able to draw on the wisdom of quiet sober men ( in short supply) of Franks Ilk. In fact I would suggest all Labour MP's need to take a leaf out of his book get back n track . Get back in the game.

I have just voted for you but with some misgivings. I like Owen Smith and he speaks more moderately but in this time of big change in direction from the Conservatives I think we need to be pulled sharply back towards the left and now is not the time for a change in leadership. My concern is Momentum. What role are they playing within the Labour Party?

Hi Jeremy,
I am a definite supporter, and in fact joined Labour as a supporter after your election (after being very disillusioned with Labour for many years, see my second question below).

However couple of things I've not heard much about:

1. I have asked via your site why you and your campaign have basically ignored Wales- no meetings or rallies here, for example. Wales is much more Labour- supporting than Scotland, where there are 3 advertised meetings. We are, however, perpetually overlooked (and being completely screwed over by boundary changes, to a greater extent than Scotland or England), and I'm a bit sad that this is continuing. So: do you intend to give Wales equal priority to other UK 'nations' if you become PM?

1. Another thing I've tried to contact you about, but was told you were only answering constituent emails: student loans. I know you are in general opposed to education charges, and broadly against student debt. However, I would like to see some specific policy in relation to people who have existing student debt, who are again often overlooked in favour of policy to help current students. In my situation, for example, I have been messed about endlessly by Erudio, and am now in a situation where despite being on a less-than-average wage (even with a PhD), I am being forced to repay my loan, because I claim tax credits to help with childcare. It's absolutely absurd that tax credits are counted as 'income' to repay loans with, as they are very specifically to cover child and childcare related costs. They are also not income which is accrued on the basis of qualification level (not that my income is much higher due to my qualifications; I'd probably be on the same income if I'd left school at 16, now)- which is the argument for loans/fees in the first place- so someone with no qualifications would be equally able to claim them. Will you address this either in parliament or more widely, at some time in the future?

1. What will you do to improve the dire situation of single parents under the current government? Many of us are now hundreds of pounds a month worse off due to a combination of stagnant wages and tax credit cuts, and it has been made harder to claim child maintenance with charges for CMS, and lack of representation in court or in politics. This affects primarily women so is an issue of sexism, but also plays into the horrendous child poverty stats for the UK. Will you please guarantee that no child will be worse off as a result of their parents' divorce? I know you are divorced yourself so you must know it's bad enough for kids without them then being left in poverty for the rest of their childhood.

The election for Labour Party leader is a choice between two brocialists. Neither you nor Owen Smith show any signs of regarding women as anything other than mindless voting machines. Your shadow cabinet was, at best, a nod to some jobs for the girls, but only the unimportant ones. You have let loose the left wing version of the gamergate dudes who are re-living their teenage rent-a-mob days with glee.

From a my perspective, both of you are as bad as each other. I'm deeply disappointed in the Labour party and your behaviour has been a large part of it. And yes, my MP, a very very good Labour MP, is on the de-selection hit list.

How long are you going to carry on like this? How big is your ego that you cannot see Labour voters leaving in droves?

(Sorry, AA. As I said, not sure of the convention, I'm not a frequent poster.)

I'd like to ask a question about immigration. I was an Ed Milliband fan but despaired over the way he still promoted misconceptions about immigration. It seems to be one the biggest obstacles to winning Labour voters, because so much is blamed on immigrants - lack of provision for schools, the NHS, social security & housing. Is JC at all optimistic about being able to change this narrative, and how?

Why do you support decriminalising prostitution instead of the Nordic model? Where full decriminalisation has happened, there has been an increase in demand, an increase in trafficking and an increase in violence.

I have always been left wing and I have been on rallies to support you but I cannot support your stance on prostitution.

Why is the left only fully in favour of the free market when it's women's bodies that are being commercially bought and sold?

I am repeating YouAreMyRain's questions above as they have asked Mr Corbyn exactly what I want to ask him.

Except I will go further to say, that although I have voted Labour all my life, I will not vote for any political party that is prepared to rubber stamp the sale, exploitation and commodification of women's bodies.

Nordic Model Now!

Mr Corbyn you can access more information here: nordicmodelnow.org/

('Chimney-based learning initiative' really made me larf)

Do you condemn the IRA?

Also PMSL at Chimney Based Learning Initiative!

I would like to ask Jeremy if he thinks Labour can continue to be a broad church, given the polarisation of views of Labour members? You have the Blairites and the proper left-wingers - do you think one party can realistically represent both view points, and if not, do you think Labour should split?

There are serious questions for you Mr Corbyn, I hope no time is wasted answering what your favourite biscuit is. Its annoying and unnecessary and I wish posters wouldn't ask that. (Not to say disastrous for you if the serious questions aren't answered then say you've run out of time).

My question is the usual that seldom gets answered:

Help, financially especially for disabled and their fulltime carers who are recognised as part of the 'hard working' (never any time off etc) who save the Government BILLIONS a year, ''earn'' just over £1.00))an hour for 35 hours only (when caring is a 168 hour commitment), plus taking off the so called spare room tax for anyone registered disabled, as they have to depend on housing allowance.

THank you.

I am gutted about what is happening in the Labour Party at the moment and I feel really disappointed in you for letting it happen.

I appreciate that there is a divide but surely you can see that there isn't much public appetite for the brand of far left politics that you are advocating and good politics is about listening to the electorate as a whole and not just the Twitter echo chamber that the far left seem to reside i,n.

I voted for you last time because I assumed you could work with the party, not against it. I'm not defending the behaviour of other MP's either - you have all behaved like children, but as leader, the buck stops with you.

My question is, do you feel guilty that you and your party have resigned us to a generation of Tory rule?

Following up Quiero's question: when, 12 years and two more Tory majorities down the line, we have no NHS, the welfare state has been destroyed, and 70% of our children are consigned to the educational scrap heap at age 11, do you think you will still feel that ideological purity is more important than electability?

(Labour voter in the last election, btw).

Would you be genuinely sorry or secretly relieved to see the Labour Party split?

i will have a think about what i want to ask. i voted for you this morning by the way, i dont think you are unelectable at all, in fact i am certain the only reason that has been said at all is because people (tories) are scared that you will become pm and do a massively better job than they have.

What concrete steps will you be taking to communicate with people who don't already support you, but whose support labour will need to win an election - e.g. people who voted Tory at the last election.

I could ask so many questions.

• you are 13 points behind in the polls and have been slumping since the day you arrived.
• you cannot lead the MPs in your party - they wont work with you they voted overwhelmingly to get rid of you.
• you stand idly by as your supporters engage in anti-semitism, rampant sexism, intimidation and abuse
• you were at best disingenuous over that train journey

My question

Why are you still here?

Also, please, please, please define a 'Blairite'.

Oh and I have spoken to loads of Tories - they love you Jeremy. They really arent scared of you at all.

Many think it was the best £3 they ever spent.

You are further behind than any leader of the party, ever. Forget going onto win the next election - you are looking at electoral extermination.