International Women’s Day Q&A with Penny Mordaunt MP, Secretary of State for International Development NOW CLOSED TO NEW QUESTIONS

[JustineMumsnet]

[EDITED BY MNHQ: Questions have now been collated and sent over - new questions may not be answered]

Hello all,

We’re very pleased to announce a Q&A with Penny Mordaunt MP, Secretary of State for International Development and Minister for Women and Equalities.

Please post your questions on this thread by lunchtime on Wednesday March 6. We’ll send on a selection to the Minister and we will post up written answers from Penny on this thread this coming Friday (March 8), International Women’s Day.

In her role as Secretary of State for International Development, Penny Mordaunt oversees DFID’s work ending extreme poverty overseas, including programmes focused on girls’ education and women’s health. DFID has been in the news recently, facing calls for its budget to be spent partly on encouraging projects that would aid British business overseas, and for it to be folded into the Foreign Office instead of being a standalone department.

In her role as Minister for Women and Equalities, Penny is also responsible for work including gender pay gap reporting and possible changes to the law concerning gender recognition.

Penny campaigned for Brexit in the run-up to the 2016 EU referendum and is a Royal Naval Reservist. She has previously been Minister of State for Disabled People and Minister of State for the Armed Forces.

Please add your questions for Penny here by Wednesday lunchtime. And although it’s not a live webchat please stick to the spirit of our webchat guidelines and keep it civil.

If one topic is overwhelmingly dominating responses we might request that people don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. Rest assured we will ALWAYS make the recipient aware that it's an area of concern to multiple users and will encourage them to engage with those questions.

Thanks
Justine

Nb existing members will be able to post on this thread. Thanks.

My guess is that Ms Mordaunt feels if she procrastinates for long enough she won't have to answer at all

Some really good and well researched questions on this thread. Thank you all for raising these. I honestly thought that there was nothing left to shock me in the farce that is #transcult but CharlieParley's post about the CRIA has left my law thumping on the floor

#NODEBATE

This feels appropriate, although we have missed the second stage and have gone straight from one to three.

Does anyone else feel like we are being put firmly in our place?

...nice hot lamb curry over here please while you're out for Chinese. Something hearty, as all this is turning into a bit of a long-haul

Smotheroffive

I'm happy with Indian if the consensus is for a curry. I like a bit of spice in mine (requests for kormas will be met with derision).

It seems extraordinary that a Government Secretary of State and Minister of State with a vast staff and budget at her disposal cannot even produce a holding statement, nor an apology for lateness, nor a simple definition of 'woman' to be going on with.

The fact is that she met with Justine Roberts and made a commitment.

Posters put a lot of time and thought into their very reasonable (and frequently incisive) questions to Penny Mordaunt. This just seems rude.

I know she's got Brexit on, but she's had Brexit on since 2016. Her own brief matters just as much when women are being thrown under ALL the buses, not just the Brexit one.

It seems extraordinary that a Government Secretary of State and Minister of State with a vast staff and budget at her disposal cannot even produce a holding statement, nor an apology for lateness, nor a simple definition of 'woman' to be going on with

I'm quite surprised by this too. I know the shit is really hitting the fan right now but surely someone junior has access to her commitments.

I suspect she is underestimating the power and influence of Mumsnet...

Happy with an Indian, although I am veggie, which doesn’t mean I can’t take my curry on the hot side. (she says defensively).

I’ve got a bottle of Anno SLoe Gin to share for later, which I drink neat, in fact It had never crossed my mind to dilute it until a (gin expert) friend told me you should.

This just seems rude

Well, like most politicians arrogance about the lessers is to be expected.

I'll have Thai please.
Drums fingers. I'm betting that Penny is weighing up whether it's better to just not appear at all.

What a waste of a webchat on International Women's Day. Next year can we ask Julie Bindel? Bet she'd show up if she took on the booking.

Spartacus I wasn't expecting such a long wait, any chance of a cuppa? Builders strength, no sugar. Ta

I'm skinning-up if anyone's interested.

(I don't even know what that means - my son told me to say it.)

Beef and black bean sauce please.
The delay in responding without any kind of apology is pretty rude.
I'm guessing it's a combination of Brexit drama and the questions being a bit trickier perhaps than they want to answer.

I'll have Thai please.

I knew the offer of going for the curry would bring out the unreasonable demands. I live in a small town with one Indian restaurant, a couple of Chinese and the nearest Thai is a half hour drive away.

It's like when you organise the staff Xmas outing and all the 'I'm allergic to parsley' folk start making their demands, isn't it?

Your son is a cheeky monkey Horse

Skinning up... I've not had a spliff since I got pregnant with my first child 18 years ago.

Better pass or I'll be doing a whitey before I hear the replies.

My drug of choice these days is an HRT patch.

Maybe, with three of the four wheels off the Brexit bus, and the fourth showing signs of a slow puncture, there are more discussions going on than we know about?
I suspect about now the upper eschelons of the Tory party will be circling around the old leader, vying for position in a leadership contest.

*echelons (pedant and not yet drunk enough to be in WTF mode)

Settling in for the answers... and I didn’t even ask a GC question, just one about how we’re going to ensure we don’t continue to indirectly fund the sexual exploitation of women. But hey, who gives a shit about women? Clearly not the Womens’ Equality Officer...

Agree with others that it takes 5 seconds to slap together a message: “Apologies for the delayed response, please rest assured Penny remains committed to engaging with MNetters on these important issues that clearly many are passionate about. Due to unforseen events there may be a delay until Penny can devote the time to respond fully”

There. You can copy and paste if you like.

I agree. She may not feel comfortable giving a definition of woman, quite yet.

But something along the lines of yes, we see there are a few problems, it's all got a little out of hand and toxic.

We are reviewing the situation.

We are going to meet with this person, that person (fair play for women, transgendertrend etc) as we realise feminist groups were under represented.

I mean, it's not difficult is it?

Maybe Penny Mordant & Maria Miller are busy playing pass the hot potato?