Webchat with Kirsty Blackman, SNP Deputy Westminster Leader, on Wednesday 4 December at 1pm

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a webchat with Kirsty Blackman, SNP Deputy Leader at Westminster, and SNP General Election candidate for Aberdeen North. Kirsty will be joining us on Wednesday 4 December at 1pm.

Kirsty was first elected as a city councillor in 2007 when she was 21. She served 8 years there and has been the SNP MP for Aberdeen North since 2015.

As well as being the Deputy Leader of the SNP at Westminster, Kirsty leads for her group on the economy.

She has two children aged 6 and 8. She’s a Mumsnet user (you may remember her thread about the lost bunny of Westminster), a supporter of Woolly Hugs and says that she met some of her best friends through a Mumsnet crochet and knitting group.

Please do join us on Wednesday at 1pm, but if you can’t make it on the day, leave your question for Kirsty 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 repeat a point 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.

Many thanks
MNHQ

Hi Kirsty
You say “UK's first gender-balanced cabinet”
If the cabinet was 25% women, 25% transwomen, 50% men would you consider that to be a balanced cabinet?

Equal representation of the sexes should surely the the goal? There are issues I share with most women but none that I share with transwomen that are not also shared with men. I want women’s voices to be heard/represented.

Hi Kirsty. Loved the Westminster bunny thread

I cant really think of anything to add so will go for the MN classic...
What is your favourite biscuit?

So what is a woman, please and do some women have penises?

@SmallDropOfTabasco

Hello. Thanks for doing this Would there be anything positive about Scottish independence for people in Wales, Northern Ireland and England?

Ooo, this is a great question.

I think there are already areas where one country of the UK has led the way and others have followed their example. The more flexibility each country has over their own policies then the more likely that would be. If you look at the Breathing space scheme being introduced to help those in debt - this has been in Scotland for some time and is now being put in place in England, because they can see the success. Plastic bag charges, smoking ban, also started in one place then were rolled out.

Also, as an independent country Scotland will be able to grow our economy and encourage immigration here. This will only increase our influence and utilise some of our potential. Our closest trading partner (the rest of the UK) can only benefit from our economy growing.

@TreasureIsland77

Hi Kirsty. Loved the Westminster bunny thread

I cant really think of anything to add so will go for the MN classic...
What is your favourite biscuit?

ARGH! I had a discussion with DH about whether or not this would come up! I'm so boring on this one. My very favourite biscuit is those Oaties you get in Lidl.

(I'm pretty partial to some M&Ms too though, if I can choose a sweetie as well!)

Thank you for answering my question Kirsty. Just popped my postal vote in the post box

No more questions about trans/self-ID etc please, so that Kirsty has a chance to address the different topics that have been raised by MNers

Webchat guidelines are highlighted in the OP

Thanks

MNHQ

How will you ensure that women's single sex spaces that, as you've said were hard won by women, are going to remain as single sex?

"The reforms are backed by Scotland's main women's equality and LGBT+ equality organisations".

Of course they are, they drove them, and mostly did so in secret. You need to listen to grass roots women's groups who have been completely excluded from these 'consultations' like forwomen.scot and Women Make Glasgow to name just two.

Did you sign the SNP Women's Pledge?

When you talk about 'international best practice' in gender recognition, are you referring to the Yogyakarta Principles, which are simply proposals put forward by a self-selected group of activists?

Are you aware of the problems self-identification of gender has caused in countries which have adopted it? For example, in Canada, Jessica Yaniv was able to take women to court for refusing to wax his female-identified testicles.

Best answer from a politician so far on transgender issues KirstyBlackmanPPC, thank you for a decent answer (even if I don't agree with all of it!)

@Etrusca

I would like to hear your thoughts on the language question in Scotland. Why are there road signs in Gaelic in Perthshire, where the language is not spoken? Is that a reasonable use of resources? In areas where Gaelic is making a comeback, such as parts of Glasgow, do you think more Gaelic-medium education should be made available, at all ages, perhaps using the Welsh model? And how do you see the future official language of an independent Scotland?

Hi Etrusca, thanks for getting in touch.

It doesn't cost us more to have Gaelic road signs. If we include the Gaelic when we're replacing the sign anyway then the cost is negligible.

I've been to visit the Gaelic medium primary in Aberdeen and i'm really impressed. I think there are huge benefits to bilingualism and what better way to recognise Scotland's historic language than to do this.

As an Aberdonian I grew up speaking the Doric and it amazes me when I come across Doric words that have a Gaelic root. I'm a big fan of learning about etymology and language development and the fact that I grew up "bi-dialectual" I think has helped me feel like this.

Not trying to cop out on the indy Scotland question here, but I think the Scottish parliament of an independent Scotland should decide our national languages - I'd definitely be in favour of recognising more than one. Perhaps English, Gaelic and Scots?

(on a side note, I think I'm the first person ever to swear into the Westminster parliament in Doric. If re-elected I'll definitely be doing this again!)

oops, just seen the MNHQ comment - sorry!

@LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD

Are we allowed to ask questions?

Yes!

Welcome, Kirsty - thanks for doing this.

You said

The reforms are backed by Scotland's main women's equality and LGBT+ equality organisations

Isn't it the case that these organisations involved obtain most of their funding from the Scottish government, and a condition of this funding is that they have to prove they are "trans-inclusive"? They are unlikely to disagree (or be staffed by people who will disagree) because of the danger of losing this funding.

I'd love to vote SNP, but this issue is a deal breaker for me.

@littlbrowndog

Hello Kirsty

I was wondering why delegates have to atten conference to be able to vote

If a delegate is poor, have caring responsibilities, have a family, be disabled or lives far away it is prohibitively expensive for them. I think you might say that they should ask their branch to fund them but this is embarrassing

Why can’t they vote remotely?

This is a good question.

One of the branches I have been involved with pays the delegate fee for ALL delegates and asks those who can afford it to make a donation to cover their fee.

Within the SNP I have made very regular overtures about the fact that things like our NEC tend to happen in places like Glasgow. It's a six hour round trip to Glasgow for me and it's very costly to get there. That's a big reason that I never stood for internal office, despite being a councillor for 8 years before being an MP.

I'll raise this issue though, I hadn't quite thought it through like you've put it here. I'll see if there's anything we can do to ensure better access to internal democracy. The regional committees should help in this but I agree it's not perfect.

Thank you for a thoughtful answer, Ms Blackman.

Perhaps Doric could also receive official recognition in a future independent Scotland, who knows?!

@Jonas14

I feel forced to vote for a party I don’t believe in because all the SNP talk about is indyref and any other party don’t stand a chance in my constituency. Why shouldn’t my children enjoy the benefits of being British and the opportunities that I have had? The majority of us don’t want Brexit, but most of us don’t want indyref either.

Hi Jonas.

I think this is a quandary for a lot of people. Folk who voted no in the last independence referendum who feel very strongly that they'd like to remain in the EU have got a difficult decision to make.

I do believe that it should be the people of Scotland who decide the future for Scotland. Independence will only happen if folk in Scotland vote for it in a referendum. That's why our First Minister has said she will seek a Section 30 order so that the power is transferred to the Scottish parliament for us to hold that referendum.

Many of the people I meet have seen many negatives from Scotland's membership of the UK. Austerity, universal credit, the hostile environment and are not, unfortunately, receiving many "benefits" from being British.

A few posters have asked about the education issue, can you comment/answer some of those questions?

@WaxOnFeckOff

A few posters have asked about the education issue, can you comment/answer some of those questions?

Yes. I think it's best if I do something quite general as there are a few questions on this and it's not my area of expertise - for good reason, this is devolved to the Scottish parliament and they are the ones making the decisions on education, rather than MPs at Westminster.

You won't see a huge amount about education in our manifesto for this election. This is because of education being devolved.

You can find our most recent Holyrood programme for Government here: www.gov.scot/publications/protecting-scotlands-future-governments-programme-scotland-2019-20/pages/7/?fbclid=IwAR3hapyirNblWKpVP7wCIrUobyAgt-Z6fkG0ERWpwKpxTj9J-Op-MSFduwM

It has a lot about how we are improving education. Some of the reforms and initiatives I've seen working on the ground though are free school meals - children can't learn well if they're hungry. The Scottish Attainment Challenge funding and PEF (pupil equity funding) that are going to headteachers and SMTs within schools. I think that there has been a good recognition by our Scottish Government that the attainment gap needs to close. The child payment that will be starting next year will also help - again, if children can't access basic necessities they won't be able to learn well.

There is always more to do and we will always work to improve the system and to ensure that all children from all backgrounds reach their potential.

It has a lot about how we are improving education.

I've not read it but surely that statement is a contradiction? Appreciate that you've said that education is a devolved function but it's devolved to your party and the lines are constantly blurred as and when required by the leadership in Holyrood.

@MintChocAddict

Hi Kirsty, I'm planning to vote SNP in the forthcoming election for the first time. I'm sure like many others I'm voting tactically against the Conservatives. It's definitely not a mandate for Indyref 2 despite what we keep hearing from SNP leaders. I would absolutely vote no again if it did occur. Can you reassure new SNP voters like myself that your party will concentrate on improving schools, NHS and other devolved matters if we vote you in, rather than taking your eye of the ball (again) to push forward Indyref 2. My vote is NOT a mandate and shouldn't be treated as such.

Hiya MintChocAddict

During this election we are standing on a platform explicitly saying we will hold an independence referendum. We do already have the mandate for this having won it in 2016.

However, despite wanting a different constitutional settlement and being quite clear that we want this, the SNP have been getting on with the day job in Holyrood. Our programme for government this year is brilliant. 90% of our businesses pay lower poundage on business rates than if they were in England, we've introduced a starter rate of tax for those on the lowest incomes, we've brought in the baby box, we've got free prescriptions, more young folk from deprived backgrounds are going to uni by age 30, we have the best performing NHS A&E in the UK, we have highest amounts of foreign direct investment outside London, we have 4 of the world's top 20 unis (only Switzerland has more), we've built major infrastructure projects (AWPR, Queensferry crossing).

The Scottish Government have done an amazing job getting on with the day job, especially given Westminster has been utterly paralysed by Brexit and has squeezed Scotland's budget, has increased the level of child poverty and has created the hostile environment.

@WaxOnFeckOff

When an NHS consultant leaves and you have no replacement, why are all the patients (some of them children) removed from the list to start the process to be referred all over again instead of staying on the list until someone new is appointed? Is this just a way of achieving targets? If you are no longer on the list then you cant miss the target to be treated. never mind the waste of resource employed to get added back onto the list again a year later.

I'm sorry this has happened WaxOnFeckOff

Honestly, I don't know much about these systems and it may be unique to your health board. If you haven't already I would strongly recommend speaking to your MSP about this. We need to fix the system so these things don't happen. It sounds thoroughly demoralising, nevermind anything else.

Next time you head from Scotland down to London, could you bring some tatty scones and square sausage with you for my brother. He will give you the money for them 😃

@CariGransnet

From Gransnet user Jane10

Why have you not costed your spending plans?

Hi CariGransnet

We haven't done as some of the other parties have done and provided a full breakdown of the costs. That doesn't mean we haven't researched the costs of the proposals though.

The reality is that the SNP won't be in Government in Westminster. We're only standing in Scottish seats so it's impossible for us to win a majority. Our manifesto is a clear indication of our policies. These are what we will be pushing for during any negotiation with a minority Government who are looking for our support. This is also what we will be putting forward at any budget time. If we hold the balance of power, it's important for us to lay out our key asks so that both voters and those seeking our support in Westminster can see where we stand.