Webchat with Dr Phillip Lee, LibDem candidate for Wokingham, on Tuesday 3 December at 2pm

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a webchat with Dr Phillip Lee, Liberal Democrat General Election candidate for Wokingham. Phillip will be joining us on Tuesday 3 December at 2pm.

Phillip worked as a doctor at various hospitals in London and the South East before becoming a GP. He continues to practise in Berkshire on a part-time basis.

Elected as the Conservative MP for Bracknell in 2010, he joined Teresa May’s government in 2016 as the Minister for Youth Justice, Victims, Female Offenders and Offender Health. In June 2018 he was the first minister to resign from the government over the direction of Brexit and went on to campaign for a second referendum. In September 2019 Phillip left the Conservative Party and “crossed the floor” in the House of Commons. He now sits as a Liberal Democrat and has been appointed Justice spokesman. Phillip will contest the 2019 General Election as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Wokingham Constituency.

Please do join us on Tuesday at 2pm, but if you can’t make it on the day, leave your question for Phillip 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. (We will be taking action on this, including suspending the accounts of MNers who continue to heckle after we've posted to ask people to stop, so please take note.) 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.

Thanks

@Clymene

Hi Philip

What is your view on the extensive amount of housing that is being built in Wokingham. Do you think there is an adequate level of infrastructure to support it and, if not, what are your plans?

I was born and raised in the Thames Valley. The scale of house building and industrial estate construction has been immense over the last few decades. Although most people recognize that the area is relatively successful, I think that there is a danger that we're losing sight of the importance of suitable infrastructure and the value of the local living environment. The scale of house building today in the Wokingham area has been significant and there have been further plans. It is important that such developments have an appropriate proportion of affordable housing, something that LibDem councillors have campaigned for over many years. More widely though, the expectation of house building placed upon the local area by national government needs to be reduced. I will campaign actively to seek such a reduction because significant developments such as that proposed for Grazeley are no longer in my view acceptable.

@LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD

Not heckling at all. No CAPs or swears, perfectly civil.

Doesn't need to have caps to be heckly imho

@goodygoodyyumyum

Hi Phillip

Welcome - have some or if you're feeling peckish/thirsty.

Can I ask if you'll be supporting fellow Lib-Dem Siobhan Benita in the London mayoral election, or might you be tempted to back your former Conservative colleague Rory Stewart? Also - as it's Mumsnet - what's your favourite biscuit and why?

Of course I will be supporting Siobhan, she is an outstanding candidate for London mayor. Rory is a good friend and, like me, has decided that the Conservative party is no longer a political home. i wish him luck but hope that London votes for the lib dems.

My favourite biscuit is a dark chocolate hobnob...

By the same token, the women's justice system needs to be confident that someone coming in to the system has properly transitioned. Because this can take some time,

What do you mean by 'properly transitioned?' If anyone can self ID as any gender at any given moment, why would that 'take some time?'

Why is your priority 'the person who is changing their gender' and not the hundreds of vulnerable women (as described previously by yourself) already in the prison? What about their safety and dignity?

My own position is that people should be free to choose their lives just so long as it doesn't negatively impact upon others.

The thing is, Dr Lee, women everywhere ARE telling you and your party colleagues (and other parties, tbf) exactly and in great detail how self-id really does negatively affect us. All we are hearing back is "be tolerant, be nice, be more like us".

This completely disregards the struggles and challenges that women face every day, in direct favour of a minuscule minority who have decided they make better women than we do.

By the same token, the women's justice system needs to be confident that someone coming in to the system has properly transitioned.

There is no definition of properly transitioned. If you mean they have a GRC, self ID will make that a form filling exercise.

Currently the prison service don't take notice of whether someone has a GRC or not.

If it's to do with surgery, again, although that would reduce the number of applicants to a female prison, it doesn't stop men attacking women. Men attack women with lots of things other than their penis.

Because this can take some time, it strikes me that to have a separate unit for this process to take place is a sensitive and practical option. at the forefront of my mind is the security of everyone involved, particularly the person who is changing their gender

This ^ is shocking. Why are you more^ concerned with what is mostly going to be men wanting to access incarcerated women as part of their punishment?

What about the women who can't escape??

More concerned with trans people, who are going to be largely men, than women. Right there in black and white.

Absolutely Datun.

Because this can take some time, it strikes me that to have a separate unit for this process to take place is a sensitive and practical option.

And what will you tell the activist groups who say that these self-id people [largely sexual predators] are 100% women and you are being completely transphobic to suggest their male genitalia is not as womanly as the females they want to be placed with?

You will find that logical options like 3rd spaces are amongst the most bigoted of all, if you talk to the same people that are browbeating women (physically and metaphorically) every single day.

@lonelyplanetmum

Thank you for your courageous and principled departure from the Conservative party. The influence of the ERG has made it mutate into something very different from the previous ‘one nation’ Conservative party. Many of the electorate seem oblivious to the extent to which the party has now diverged to the right. How can more voters be made aware of this concerning shift, and do you think more moderate Tories will be able to reclaim the party in the future?

Thank you for your kind comments. It was a difficult decision to leave a political party after 27 years of activism. Sadly over recent months I thought the party had left me. Of course Brexit was the major precipitant, but I also thought that the party was being overcome by English nationalism and populism. There is also, I believe, an obvious need to reform capitalism and I saw little evidence of such thinking taking place in Conservative circles. It is interesting to note the names of former Conservative members of parliament who have either left the party or join the LibDems, choosing to stand as independents or choosing to leave politics altogether. To my mind they were the heart and soul of moderate conservatism and their exit makes me think that such as moderate Conservative party is unlikely to return anytime soon. That is why Liberal conservatives should be voting Liberal Democrats at this general election

@waspfig

By the same token, the women's justice system needs to be confident that someone coming in to the system has properly transitioned. Because this can take some time,

What do you mean by 'properly transitioned?' If anyone can self ID as any gender at any given moment, why would that 'take some time?'

Why is your priority 'the person who is changing their gender' and not the hundreds of vulnerable women (as described previously by yourself) already in the prison? What about their safety and dignity?

My priority is everybody, not just one group.

My priority is everybody, not just one group.

That's admirable. But when the rights of two groups conflict, you have to pick a side.

We're nearly out of time so unfortunately we won't be able to take any more follow up questions.

Can we still talk amongst ourselves, Michael?

My priority is everybody, not just one group.

Yet a scant ten minutes ago you posted:

...at the forefront of my mind is the security of everyone involved, particularly the person who is changing their gender

Is that not prioritising one (very small) group over another, much more vulnerable one?

I’m a Wokingham voter. I talk to many of my friends, also Wokingham voters. We feel politically homeless. We do not want to vote for Redwood as he is a Brexiteer. We would prefer to vote LibDem. But the way our concerns over women’s sex based rights have been dismissed have made this impossible. There are many of us. And our daughters are worried too, they see the reality of what will happen to their rights with self id. We are quiet because of the risk of TRA attacks. But we will have to vote with our consciences. Why is there no concern from the LibDems about this?

@CariGransnet

From Gransnet user NanaMags

Hi Phillip,

Do you think tactical voting will be a key decider in this election? I feel like I've been hearing more about it than in previous votes.

In a First Past the Post democratic system there is always the danger that a government gets a majority with less than 40% of the vote. In this particular election, Brexit is the biggest issue that I've encountered on the doorsteps. It strikes me that if the Conservatives secure a majority with less than 40% of the vote and then proceed to deliver a hard Brexit, or indeed a no deal Brexit, then that will not be what the majority of the Great British public wanted. In such circumstances tactical voting is the only way to prevent such a democratic outrage. In different seats that will mean voting for different parties. In my seat if you want to stop Brexit I would advise you to vote Liberal Democrat.

Who else is coming on for a wee chat?

@Bibijayne

How would you go about improving mental health provision and care in the UK?

I know health is devolved, so answers will focus on England in terms of Westminster, but keen on your views of how it can approve across the UK as a whole too?

Mental health provision for too long has been a Cinderella speciality in that it that did not receive enough funding to provide essential care for vulnerable people. Traditionally physical healthcare has received a disproportionate amount, so i'm very pleased that the lib dems have committed 11 billion pounds to improve mental health services, such as increased access to talking therapies, because in my technical experience it has always been a challenge to secure appropriate care for those individuals who find themselves mentally unwell. the lib dems passionately believe that we need to achieve relative parity between physical and mental healthcare

It's been a pleasure to be here today. Thank you to Mumsnet for inviting me. Pity there wasn't any dark chocolate Hobnobs! I hope my answers have been appreciated. Politics and policies can often be complex and it's really important in a healthy democracy that individuals and political parties can discuss challenging issues honestly and in an informed way.

I look forward to doing this again sometime soon.

No answers on the spousal "veto" then.

Thanks to Dr Lee for coming on and to MNers for their questions as ever - we're going to close this thread now but do hop over to our webchats topic to find out who we've got lined up for you.

Thanks
MNHQ