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.

Well this is entirely unsurprising

We’re blaming Brexit I presume?

No, It's difficult questions like "define a woman" that has caused this.

I was being facetious

My gast has never been less flabbered.

Penny Mordaunt has just signed up to be a "SheDecides" Champion. She Decides was initially created as an urgent response to Donald Trump’s reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule banning the US government from funding organisations that provide safe abortions or information about abortion.

It is an initiative that certainly seems to know who "women and girls" are. It also talks about their right to privacy. "We are united by the belief in the right of every girl and every woman, everywhere, to make the decisions only she should make".

www.shedecides.com/

There's been a very febrile atmosphere at Westminster over the last couple of days. I'm assuming she's caught up in that. A potential future party leader, I understand.

www.shedecides.com/the-movement/

'We see a world where every girl and woman can exercise her right to privacy, gender identity, choosing partners, pleasure, marriage, children'

Those two chilling little words...

Still nothing? Quelle surprise

We see a world where every girl and woman can exercise her right to privacy, gender identity, choosing partners, pleasure, marriage, children'

Yes those two words make that sentence completely meaningless. Because she could equally be talking about a man.

She is currently taking questions on Women and Equalities, live on Parliament TV. Wouldn't it be great if another MP asked her when she is going to answer Mumsnet?

I can dream........

What exactly is gender identity? I don't have one so I'm curious.

How do you legislate for something so nebulous?

How do you legislate for something so nebulous?

Exactly.

Given that 'gender identity' tends to be imposed onto women and girls from the outside - or created, if you like, through an interplay of social and familial norms - it's nothing to crow about on behalf of women.

Quite the opposite in fact.

Hmm, i’ve got a labour MP that might be willing to embarrass the Conservatives - shall I write to him getting him to ask Penny why she’s so thoroughly ignored us?

Mind you, he’s one of the “woke” ones so probably wouldn’t...

Hello - we have some movement and we're hoping we'll have something for you today - fingers crossed

@EmpressAdultHumanFemale

Why have you removed the sticky, MNHQ?

We haven't, it's still stickied. Stickies rotate so you won't always see it at the top of Active but it is there and is being rotated

Fingers bloody crossed? That's not going to work is it, at this rate you need to be praying for a miracle

@MenstruatorExtraordinaire

F* this for a game of soldiers I'm off to binge watch Deutschland 86

Oooooh has it been released? I've been waiting for this

Ooohhh thanks RowanMumsnet!

Been on tenterhooks here. Place duly marked!

We haven't, it's still stickied. Stickies rotate so you won't always see it at the top of Active but it is there and is being rotated

Thanks Rowan.

thanks RowanMumsnet !

Brexit is likely to happen before we get answers

@Tiscold

Fingers bloody crossed? That's not going to work is it, at this rate you need to be praying for a miracle

Honestly, we really think something will happen soon...