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).

So. I have now posted my vote. Spoiled. Can't vote for Smith, but I can't vote for a man who gives pimps a free ride.

I wonder if they collect spoiled votes and read them?

He had plenty of time to get a more open answer together than 'we don't want women jailed'. He could have said, this is a huge issue and we need to develop policy with women in the party and elsewhere. Instead they stick to drinking the Wages for Housework bloody KoolAid in the foolish belief that they represent feminists. That's it JC. Move on.

I missed the opportunity to put a question in, to which I hold up my hands. I'm disappointed, but not surprised by the content of the web chat.

To answer PP who have asked, JC will have loads of advisers, briefing him, providing support etc. If they weren't costly monitoring this thread I'd be very surprised indeed.

That the web chat went in the direction it did, with certain questions (what is a woman, legalisation of prostitution) being ignored speaks volumes about the importance JC attaches to the issues (not much, I'd say) and how MN as an online constituency is perceived (not very) .

I'm a lifelong Labour voter as well but have no confidence at all in JC as leader.

*closely, not costly

Aaargh. Bleddy phone!

(not very *important)

That BBC report misrepresents what was said about the prostitution debate. Nobody wanted those who are prostituted to be criminalised

This happens time and time again in the media though. EVERYONE says "oh we don't wish to criminalise prostitutes" as Corbyn did, but they stay silent on the other side of the coin that says "also we want men to be able to freely buy sex whenever it takes their fancy" as Corbyn did.

Sometimes articles are so badly worded/misunderstood that they falsely imply that the Nordic model DOES want to criminalise prostituted women, which of course is far far far from the truth.

It feels like a willful misrepresentation to me.

His answers just seemed like the equivalent of the Miss World competitors saying they loved children and wanted to travel.

I mean saying that sexual harassment is unacceptable and that girls should be encouraged into STEM subjects, is pretty general stuff that everyone except very right wingers would agree with.

I thought Owen Smith was far clearer and at least he had the balls to start with criticisms of his misogynistic language. I came away knowing what OS wants to do even if I find him lacking - JC was woolly and avoided anything tough. Poor show.

This happens time and time again in the media though. EVERYONE says "oh we don't wish to criminalise prostitutes" as Corbyn did, but they stay silent on the other side of the coin that says "also we want men to be able to freely buy sex whenever it takes their fancy" as Corbyn did.

It was JC not mentioning mens rights to buy sex that really pisses me off. No one here has mentioned wanting to treat prostitutes as criminals. All the questions were regarding men having a right to buy women rubber stamped by the govt, and the massive issues Labour has with supporting Brothel keepers vs workers rights/rights of prostitutes.

JC did NOT address those issues.

He's swallowed the brothel keepers version of the world hook line and sinker, even though it dramatically conflicts with the very basics of his purported socials belief system.

Yes exactly. He avoided answering any questions that are actually controversial amongst the left.

To answer PP who have asked, JC will have loads of advisers, briefing him, providing support etc. If they weren't costly monitoring this thread I'd be very surprised indeed.

I don't know, that would imply that he had people on staff who could do all that boring bourgeois stuff like book a train ticket, check a correct link had been put on facebook, update his website - I'm not convinced.

Arguably the biscuit question served a purpose when it was first asked (years ago) because it took the 'guest' by surprise but now it's de rigueur so it adds precisely zilch except making us look as though we give a toss about biscuits rather than the definition of women; the impact on quotas; childcare; prostitution; the complete crisis at the heart of Labour, etc. And considering they never manage to answer all the questions, it's such a waste that an answer is used up on biscuits.
I used the 'other' box to explain that I love biscuits but hate the question.

For comparison - the web chat with Owen Smith:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_live_events/2713829-Webchat-with-Labour-leadership-candidate-Owen-Smith-MP-Tuesday-23-August-at-2pm?pg=1

I too am a long term poster, almost since MN began. I used one name for all those years until all the repeated hacking. Now I name change frequently.

It's also now a technique that anyone can use to make MN look twatty - go on a serious web chat and ask about fucking biscuits.

Job done.

If Corbyn was your usual politician, I would not have been surprised at his non answers. But he keeps claiming he is doing politics differently. I don't see any evidence of that so far.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/09/6-brilliant-questions-jeremy-corbyn-managed-avoid-mumsnet

Just to say I like the biscuit question - its says a lot of about a person - eg Gordon Brown way back when - and how can you make jam without sugar or drink Iron-Bru? Anyway I'll be upfront I am a Owen smith supporter - I have seen him speak a couple of times - and his ability to answer the question is one of the things I like about him. He also engages really well with angry opponents. I think i am safe in saying that he doesn't have the same policies on prostitution as Corbyn. Also I have confidence that his policies he has actually costed and could deliver for example

merrymouse

I'm almost certain he will do, any senior politician does. They can only do so much though and politicians don't necessarily follow their advice. I wouldn't be remotely surprised to find out that JC thinks he knows best.

missed the link out www.owen2016.com/triple_lock_for_living_standards

Didn't get my question in on time but as it was about women's rights, I would probably have been ignored anyway.

One thing (in addition to the many many things mentioned above) that boiled my piss was the number of times he mentioned his mother.

Why do these politicians insist on banging on about their dear old mum? So what if some of us have children on here? Doesn't make us copper bottomed PM producers does it? I don't have to hear the word 'mum' in a sentence in order to be able to process it.

I don't fucking care about your mum. I care about how you are going to sort out this bloody country.

I don't understand the negativity. JC had a short amount of time to answer questions and his answers were comprehensive and did not dodge the issues. Just because he didn't answer in sound bites and couldn't answer everything doesn't mean he isn't capable. It looks like a few people wanted to score points and were using this forum to their own ends. You cannot please all of the people all of the time and it is to be expected that some people will be unhappy. He also in a 1 hour slot can not be expected to discuss issues that affect a very few people, when there are many more people affected by things like housing, poverty, and discrimination of all sorts. As far as I'm concerned he is trustworthy and holds values that I believe in. He has managed to change the debate towards anti austerity policies and also against blaming refugees and immigration for all the problems in this country. He has refused to get involved in negativity, even against the MPs that voted against him. JC is speaking for many people and which is why he membership has grown so MPs need to listen and get behind him. We don't want more centrist policies we want a caring more equal society and he stands for that.

ThroughTheOtherSide I think you've read the wrong web chat.

Owen Smith got a lot less questions than Corbyn. And only 89 posts on the entire thread.

I suppose that's because Corbyn has more chance of being leader. I don't think he'll be PM - and I do think it's a shame that we'll have May and the Conservatives for several elections.

He doesn't have to be negative when his fellow politicians and supporters are so willing to be negative on his behalf.

Anyone can tell you there need to be more council houses.

However the questions about prostitution were specific, relevant and have been on the site since Thursday. He didn't appear to be able to grasp the point.

And he avoided the transgender question. I couldn't give a flying fuck if others outside of mums net do not see this as a key question. He was on here to answer questions from mums net posters, that question was asked lots of times, and he failed to answer that.
I am sure we all know already that he wants more council houses. I wanted to find out more about his views than I have read already. I learned nothing new. Total waste of time.