Webchat with Ed Davey, Lib Dem leadership candidate, on Tuesday 18 June at 1.30pm

[BojanaMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a webchat with Ed Davey MP - one of the Lib Dem leadership candidates, along with Jo Swinson MP. Ed will be joining us on Tuesday 18 June at 1.30pm.

Ed worked as an economics adviser to Paddy Ashdown, before winning his seat of Kingston and Surbiton in 1997.

In the Coalition Government, Ed began as a Business Minister, laying the groundwork for Shared Parental Leave under Vince Cable. Ed then became the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in 2012 under the Coalition Government, where he says he quadrupled renewable power and made the UK the world leader in offshore wind. After losing his seat in 2015, Ed campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum, and re-gained his seat in 2017.

Since then, Ed says he “has been fighting for us to keep our place in Europe, pushing for a proper response to the Climate Emergency, and helping Liberal Democrats get elected across the country”. For more information about his leadership, please take a look at his campaign website.

Please do join us on Tuesday at 1.30pm, but if you can’t make it on the day, leave your question for Ed on this thread in advance.

As always, please remember our webchat guidelines - one question per user, follow-ups only if there’s time and most questions have been answered and please keep it civil. Also if one topic is overwhelmingly dominating a discussion with a guest, mods might request that people don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. Rest assured we will ALWAYS let the guest know that it's an area of concern to multiple users and will encourage them to engage with those questions.

And finally, we’re hoping to confirm a date with Jo Swinson for a webchat too - we’ll let you know when we do.

Many thanks
MNHQ

@EdDaveyMP

[quote extraextragum] Just because apparently it's mandatory to ask this now.... have you ever taken illegal drugs? (Guess I should ask about your favourite biscuit while I'm at it)

Yes. Long time ago. I did smoke some cannabis as a student but that's it. And I'm enjoying a fig roll now. Thanks to Mumsnet who remembered the last time I did a webchat on here. I said my favourite biscuit was a fig roll - it still is![/quote]

Just to follow up on this..
The debate on drugs sparked by Michael Gove's coke confession is one we must address with evidence and principle. I'm fed up of politicians who pretend to be tough on drugs, when they are really playing into the hands of drug criminal gangs and betraying many people, especially young people. The evidence is clear. Treating drugs purely as a crime just isn't working. And we need a much greater health dimension into how we think about drugs policy. And I'm proud the Liberal Democrats continue to lead the debate on this.

@jayneinthelakes

I know many families who wish to stay at home, mostly full-time, in order to spend lots of time with their young children. It tends to be women who mainly want to take on this role, but it is becoming increasingly difficult.

Spending the majority of time with a close, full time carer who loves a child and is bonded to them is a vital part of normal child development. It is also required in order to help facilitate breast feeding, which WHO recommends that ideally should take place for a child's first 2 years.

Whilst women's rights in the work place have been improved over the years, their rights when it comes to parenting have been severely diminished. There is now so much financial and social pressure for women with young children to work outside the home and put their children into institutionalised day care, often against the family's philosophical wishes. I feel that society has been conditioned to accept this as the new normal and that mums (especially) that stay at home are cast as being 'lazy'. when this is far from the truth.
The status of those who undertake unpaid care work in our society has been erroded to almost nothing.

I am not saying in any way that we should go back to the time when the woman's place was in the home. What I am saying is that if women don't have equality of choice between being a full time mum, a full time worker, or anything in between, then we haven't really got equality at all.

What are your views on this and what would you do to restore the balance?

It is all about choice. And I'm conscious that many women don't have in reality a choice. There's a whole range of measures that are needed. In Government, I spent two years developing the shared parental leave proposals, which Norman Lamb and Jo Swinson took through. They were designed to get more men taking a caring role, regrettably, they didn't go far enough, because the Conservative side of the coalition didn't want an increase in the time for paternity leave - the sort of 'use it or lose it' policy that's worked in places like Sweden and Germany to get fathers more involved with the care of their babies. So that's something we must come back to.

Another key issue is flexible working. We improved rights to flexible working in Government but I think we need look at that area again as the evidence suggests it particularly helps women who have different caring roles. It may be that we need to go further and look at how the tax and benefits system could be used to give more people real choice to be able to stay at home. We certainly shouldn't stigmatise women or men who choose to look after their children especially in their early years.

Caring for family members has been a key part in my life. I was a young carer for 3 years when my mother was terminally ill, before she died when I was 15 (after my father had died when I was 4). I was the prime carer for my wonderful Nana and sorted out her caring arrangements, including when she had to move into a care home. Now my wife and I look after our children. My son has particular caring needs as he has an undiagnosed neurological disability, which means he can't walk or talk. So getting policies right for carers, be they parents or otherwise, is an issue close to my heart.

While I don't pretend to be an expert, I do find the different arguments and evidence that trans women men are somehow a danger to other women totally unconvincing.

This is what your statement really says when we remove the newspeak filter.

Men commit over 90% of violent and sexual crime. Makes not a fig (see what I did there) of difference how they identify.

The grass roots women's liberation movement is growing rapidly ED - we are gathering and mobilising where we can (which is not easy in this oppressive climate). Your party is foolish to ignore the concerns of half the population. You don't see it because our speech is being suppressed, woman are being sacked and deplatformed. You need to read up on this, seriously.

He's not acting like someone who's got the message loud and clear, though, is he? He's acting like someone who couldn't give a stuff about women's rights. You'd think that was quite a bad look for someone wanting to lead a political party but in 2019 it clearly isn't.

He's also not taking into count the concerns of gender critical trans people who oppose self-id or the abuse they get for doing so. No mention either of the hounding of gender critical people by activists using the courts and police to trying to silence them.

I also appreciate the honesty.

I'm afraid though, that your views on Brexit, housing and education etc are no longer of interest to me because you can't, as a party, get into power without the female vote, and if you get a researcher to have a look at what women, as in females, are saying...women won't vote for you or anyone else who seeks to remove our rights to single sex spaces. Because three of us die a week, Ed, at the hands of violent men.

I would be interested in seeing what would the Lib Dems would propose to do if it were three transwomen being murdered a week.

vivariumvivariumsvivaria

I was thinking in terms of structural issues which in itself is a massive cause of funding starvation, a dearth of services being offered, and bottlenecking

NHS Consultations come back with the same conclusions: transition related care needs to be taken out of the current system where a Cinderella Service of a Cinderella Service is a pseudo-Primary HCP for transition healthcare where in most circumstances for adults the first "referral" (technically a SCA) out of a GIC is to actual Primary Healthcare

Certainly it would be a much better system where this model of concentrating initial service provision into a tiny handful of providers should be broken up, with Primary Healthcare taking the lead and much more emphasis placed on utilizing local Secondary Healthcare, with the relevant doctors then utilizing the speciality knowledge of GIC Endo & Psychiatry via communication on a peer-to-peer level to augment local provision rather than trying to replace all relevant local Secondary Healthcare with direct provision from a GIC. As it is GPs who agree to a SCA still consult when necessary with GICs so it's hardly a revolutionary model.

I'm printing off these pitiful answers to show to my local Lib Dems when they turn up at my door asking me to lend them my vote in a winnable consituency. I've done so in the past but won't again, and I'll be showing them why.

Go well, Mr Davey.

@whysohungryagain

Hi Ed,

Which of the Tory leadership candidates would you prefer to work with if you become leader?

It will be difficult to work in a formal sense with any future Conservative prime minister who refuses to give the people the final say on Brexit. Yet from what they have said so far, the Tory candidate who has most in common with Liberal Democrats is clearly Rory Stewart - given what he has said on climate change and given his record on attempting prison reform.

Agree with you about the drugs policy stuff - it’s just another area of public policy where the UK is just incredibly stupid

Disagree with you on self-ID but appreciate you being unequivocal, it’s actually quite refreshing recently hearing a few politicians just say what they think (unless they’re Nigel Farage)

@LostinBoston

Hi Ed,

What do you think about Stella Creasy's call for women MPs to have official maternity leave?

Totally support it. As long as it comes with official paternity leave and shared parental leave. When I took paternity leave as a minister, when my daughter was born, I was roundly criticised by some backbench Conservatives and the Daily Mail. Something I wear as a badge of honour!

Once we've stopped Brexit, how do we heal the divisions that it's brought to the surface.

Good idea Somerville - best do it before everything gets deleted.

Then I refer you to my question on page 4.

It is all about choice. And I'm conscious that many women don't have in reality a choice.

Indeed. Let women have the choice of single sex spaces where it's proportionate to serve a valid need: prisons, swimming pools, changing facilities, refuges, sports etc.

I also appreciate the honesty.

I would appreciate engagement 'with evidence and principle' more.

Ed did not answer a single question from his constituents about the massive development that the LibDems have targeted across Kingston. Why not? 8 councillors voted through the plans and yet Ed wants full Parliament to have a say on Brexit. Isn't this hypocrisy at its greatest? He will say what it takes to become LibDem leader but say nothing to save the people who voted him in to power.

Thanks for all your replies to my answer on rights for trans people. I can see most of you disagree with me, but I've never been afraid of taking a principled position, even if it's unpopular. I joined the Liberal Democrats in 1999 when we were 4% in the opinion polls. It wasn't a career move. It was a decision based on my liberal beliefs and from moving the amendment to abolish the vile, homophobic section 28 to securing the release of my constituent from Guantanamo Bay, I've stuck to my principles. So I'm sorry we can't agree on this.

I checked out the minute that false suicide statistic was quoted.
I will never vote Lib Dem again.
I have been affected by suicide and when I see that someone cannot be bothered to research something this serious, I doubt their ability to educate themselves.

Thanks so much for addressing the trans issue Ed - I really appreciate it because it shows unequivocally that you are clueless and have no wish for my vote. Looking forward to showing the screenshots of your response to as many people as possible.

You might want to look those suicide stats up by the way . . .

What about women's rights, Ed? Or do we not matter.

BUT WHAT ABOUT WOMEN'S RIGHTS???

JFC.

I'm sorry none of your principles extend to women (the non penised variety) Ed.

Totally support it [maternity leave for MP]. As long as it comes with official paternity leave and shared parental leave

Mmm, heaven forbid women get any thing without a quid pro quo for men eh Ed?

I think you have very clearly communicated your stance on women’s rights today

Well who the hell am I going to vote for now?