Webchat with Labour leadership contender Emily Thornberry MP on Wednesday February 5 at 12.30pm

[BojanaMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a webchat with Labour leadership contender Emily Thornberry MP on Wednesday 5 February at 12.30pm.

Emily Thornberry is Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, having been first elected in 2005; before that she was a barrister specialising in human rights law. She has served in Labour shadow cabinets in roles from the environment and defence to Shadow Attorney General, and is currently Shadow Foreign Secretary, in which role she has opposed Saudi Arabian-led interventions in Yemen and condemned the US’s assassination of Qasem Soleimani, highlighting its potential to inflame tensions in the region.

In 2014 she resigned from the shadow cabinet following a kerfuffle about a tweet featuring a photo of a voter’s house festooned with England flags. Emily has run campaigns on affordable housing, proposed ‘radical legislation’ to close the gender pay gap, and is believed to have argued for Labour to change its Brexit policy and support a second referendum.

Please do join the chat on Wednesday at 12.30pm or if you can’t make it, leave a question here in advance.

We've invited and are hoping to have the final two contenders on over the next few weeks; if you missed our previous webchats with Jess Phillips MP and Sir Keir Starmer MP, click on the links to catch up.

As always, please remember our 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 dominating a thread, mods might request that people don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. (We may suspend the accounts of anyone who continues 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

[derxa]

Whether that's Jacinda Ardern, whether that's Angela Merkel, whether that's Sahle-Work Zewde, whether that's Katrin Jakobsdottir.
Do you include Nicola Sturgeon in this list? I'm guessing not.
I like you Emily. Of all the candidates you are the most formidable at the despatch box and on GMB . But what do I know, I'm a right leaning floating voter. I'm one of the people you need to attract and identity politics turns me right off.

[Winecheesesleep]

Thanks for answering my question, I think your answers so far have been really strong and I hope you get the CLP nominations you need. Good luck.

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@Justbenice1

Hi Emily, thank you so much for coming on.

I'm a Labour party member who has democratic socialist principles. How do you stand on inheritance? Do you believe there should be a cut off limit for it and how do you personally feel about the income and wealth inequality in this country? What do you propose to tackle this ever increasing gap between the richest and poorest? Can you tell us what your own principles are on wealth inequality and all that this means and how they will guide you if you were PM please?

Also, just to say, I really do hope you win. You already have my vote but I do hope you can convince the rest of the party that you are the bridge between wealth and poverty.

I only recently began to understand why people felt so strongly about being able to pass things on to the next generation. My mother who was a great socialist and frankly had very little indeed, wrote on a scrap of pink paper, otherwise known as her will, complete with drawings, how proud she was to be able to pass on some savings to her kids. I was so angry with her because she'd been saving up money from her pension to give me money and I didn't really need it.

It made me think about this quite a lot, as opposed to my somewhat knee jerk anti-inheritance reaction in the past. But the truth is that if we have a society which is about equality we shouldn't have people who have a greater chance because their parents have more money.

But it is a question of getting the balance right. Because another truth is that if we do believe in equality fairness and justice, we cannot have families hording an amount of wealth and increasingly so. So our tax system shouldn't just be a tax system were people are taxed fairly, with those with the broadest shoulders paying the most, we also do need to look at wealth when it is passed on from one generation to another to the extent that it currently is.

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@ListeningQuietly

Emily,

What will you do about the perceived and actual anti Semitism and sexism at the heart of the Labour party organisation?

I am absolutely clear we've got to have zero tolerance. No training sessions, no warnings, no excuses, no suspensions, just kick them out the party the way Labour kicked out Oswald Mosley from East London and Liverpool in the 1930s. We have such a proud history of fighting against racism and prejudice it disgusts me that these despicable individuals have put such a stain on our party. As for sexism and sexual harassment, I'm glad that you mentioned this because we hear a lot about how drawn out and convoluted our procedures are for dealing with antisemitism cases, but you could say exactly the same for many other disciplinary cases. I'm not involved in the internal processes, but as leader I would want to expend political capital that a new leader has in ensuring that we establish disciplinary process worthy of the name. I would put in a call to the equalities and human rights commission and ask them what's happened to their report? And work with them to establish something that was an example of good practice and something to be proud of. And then, once it had been established, I would get on the phone to the Tories and say, 'We've got an example of good practice when it comes to discipline, would you like to learn from us?'

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@ScreamingBeans

Hello Emily
What is the Labour party's stance on freedom of speech? There seems to be an alarming illiberal culture shift away from Voltaire's sentiment that you can disagree with what someone says but fight to the death for their right to say it.

On university campuses visiting speakers get no-platformed, lecturers are threatened for having wrongthink and in one case needs police protection. Police are logging "hate incidents" which aren't even crimes and telling people they need to "check their thinking" for liking tweets. An Asda employee was sacked for posting a Billy Connolly video online. Potentially violent mobs gather to try and intimidate and shout down women who meet to discuss women's rights; and the modern marketplaces of ideas, social media platforms, are banning people for expressing views of which their moderators disapprove (not necessarily incitement to violence or hatespeak).

Does the Labour Party believe this is a problem or are you happy with this state of affairs? If you're not, what would you do about it if you got into power? If you are, what views and opinions do you plan on criminalising if you get into power?

I think we have comprehensive laws for dealing with hate speech and they should be applied.

[ListeningQuietly]

Thank you Emily.
Your answer reassures me.

[RedDogsBeg]

You have given two examples where you have been cowed into submission by male leaders of the Labour Party one of which was a matter on which you felt very strongly, yet you gave way, and you were also unable to persuade the current male leadership of the Labour Party of the lack of wisdom regarding the recent general election and stance on the EU - and yet you state you will take on male leaders of the world and be strong, unwavering and forthright, how can we believe this when you cave to the demands of male leaders of your own party so cravenly?

[ScreamingBeans]

I didn't ask you about hate speak Emily, I asked you about freedom of speech and you haven't answered.

Could you also answer the questions about gender self identification and the GRA as these are massively important issues to women but Mumsnet limits the number of questions we are allowed to ask about that subject.

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@midclegs

Hi Emily,

I am seriously worried about gender identity extremism and what I see as an erasure of women's rights - in fact an erasure of what is the essence of 'woman' - in the name of self-ID and indeed the conflation sex and gender.

As a mother I am frightened for my daughter's future.

What are your thoughts on this?

In the 1970s and 80s I was involved in the feminist movement and at that time we were trying to establish that women could make their own choices that they weren't in someway 'lesser men', that we could do jobs that until then only men had done, that we didn't have to wear make up, that we didn't have to get married. We could establish our own identity. I was really proud of being a woman and being part of that movement. Over the decades things have changed and I have thought about this issue a great deal and have been challenged particularly by the younger generation who have a very different attitude to identity than I did when I was their age. When I was at college there was someone who worked in the catering department she was known as David the Dinner Lady and we all laughed at her and she was incredibly vulnerable but amazingly brave and I look back at that and I'm ashamed. I hope our world has moved on and I think the younger generation have a different attitude. I don't think you need to be worried about your daughter, I think your daughter will grow up in a world that is more tolerant and understanding and perhaps has learnt from feminism that we can all be different and it's OK.

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@TeddyIsaHe

Hi Emily,

I live in Norwich which made the headlines earlier this week for the horrific racist poster displayed in one of the tower blocks.

What is yours and Labour’s plan to tackle blatant and learned racism within our communities? Brexit seems to have given these individuals a belief that they have the right to do these awful things and I can only see it getting worse.

Labour has to lead by example. We must root out racism and antisemitism in our own party and we must always be clear and brave and always call out racism wherever we see it. We cannot allow this cancer to grow on our society and the Labour Party has always been an anti racist party and we must continue to lead the fight. Particularly at a time when our society seems to be becoming more divided, we have an absolute duty to be on the right side of this argument at all times.

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@tumbletastic

Do you think the current rate of £66.15 per week is fair for a parent/carer to live on?
We are a single wage family unit due to our daughter being disabled. I am unable to work and left a career as a solicitor.
The carers rate works out as works out as 39.3p per hour when your child requires 24/7 care.
It's ridiculous to say most people receiving this only work 35 hours.

Given as a family we could place our child in residential care which would cost thousands per week do you feel this rate of pay is fair and what will your party do for disabled people and their carers in the future?

Our society completely depends on paid and unpaid carers. They are very often isolated, unrecognised and undervalued. It takes me back to the answer I was giving about social care being our biggest priority. Attached to that is the way we totally underpay those who do the most important work in our society. It's as if we pay people the least amount that we can possibly get away with. And I agree with you this has to change.

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@RevIMJolly

How are you going to reinvigorate the Labour Party in Scotland?

Well I'm going to start off by listening to Scottish Labour. It will be inappropriate for an English leader of the Labour party to be pontificating about what the future of Labour in Scotland is. But I can tell you this, I have always worked closely with Labour in Scotland and will always continue to do so. I have family in Scotland, part of my heart is in Scotland.

[tumbletastic]

Thanks for replying Emily but will you and your party make a pledge to do something for carer?

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@allieverknew

Do you ever so slightly regret your nose tap/fields of wheat moment in your conference speech?

I didn't fully understand what all the fuss was about! People were asking me whether I used cocaine when I was young, and I honestly couldn't understand. I was aiming more for Kenneth Williams from the Carry On Films, you know, 'nudge nudge, wink wink' - but it was definitely not drug taking. It probably shows that I am getting older - or maybe that the journalists are getting younger

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@coughcoughcoughitty

I've heard you've got a filthy laugh Has it ever got you into trouble?

There is a problem in that I do make jokes, I do laugh and I really do enjoy politics. There is a very serious side to politics but frankly some bits are so hilarious I do laugh. There doesn't seem to be room in the world for politicians making jokes. Everything we say is meant to be true and is open to deliberate misinterpretation. We need to be given some latitude sometimes otherwise you won't get real people becoming politicians.

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@happydappy2

Hi Emily, do you think it’s fair to women in prison to be locked up with a male bodied person who identifies as a woman? Why are transwomen not kept in the Male estate, with protection if appropriate?

I have the dubious privilege of being the MP for Pentonville prison and Holloway prison is over the road from my constituency. What I know is that it was a good thing that Holloway was closed and its about time that Pentonville is too. Pentonville prison is unsafe for inmates and staff, the level of violence in that institution is a national disgrace, it is under-resourced and understaffed and the conditions give a good name to the word Dickensian.

There will be no way that a trans woman could possibly be safe in such an institution. And this is all about safeguarding. All our inmates deserve to be safe and to be housed in an appropriate and safe place. I can't get over the image of somebody I represented at Bow street magistrate court. She had been arrested for soliciting. She'd been born a man. Every single police officer there knew and thought it was hilarious that this woman had to be treated as a man.

At Bow Street at the time there were single occupancy cells beneath the court but there was also one big room that they'd put people arrested and held overnight. They put her in this room. I was supposed to be looking after her and there was nothing I could do to protect her. She was completely humiliated, they were all laughing and pointing at her. I was ashamed. Our criminal justice system has to be better than that.

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@ripple11

I can get 135/1 for you to win....how much should I put on?

When I first stood for election in 2005, the odds against me were so bad that one of the volunteers working on my campaign put money on and got so much back that it paid for him to go and watch the World Cup in South Africa!

[EmilyThornberryMP]

@AnnaCMumsnet

Hi Emily,

Mumsnet has been running a campaign to get employers to publish their parental leave policies, so that people planning families don't have to guess what pay and leave they'll be allowed if they take maternity, paternity or other parental leave. Our users have told us they don't like to ask this question during the recruitment process because they fear it would make a job offer less likely.

We think publishing this policies is a really easy, cost-free thing for businesses to do, and could drive a race to the top for those employers who really value committed parents on staff.

Do you agree with us it should be compulsory for big employers, as with gender pay gap reporting?

Keir Starmer has already supported it, will you?

There was a new directive which came over from Europe about parental leave and Britain had to decide how it was going to implement it. I was one of the leaders of the parental leave campaign and we wanted parental leave to be paid properly and flexible. That was a long time ago and it's still not happening. So yes, anything I can do to support this I will. People feel embarrassed to ask about what the policies are and sometimes I think employees are played off one against another for it. So absolutely they should publish parental leave policies if they are serious about wanting to be good employers and are serious about attracting both men and women who have families.

[TeddyIsaHe]

Thanks for answering my question. This has been a really enlightening webchat, and your answers have been strong and reassuring. Wishing you lots of luck.

[EmilyThornberryMP]

Thank you everybody for your time. I hope that I've given an insight into the sort of leader I would be and future PM. Can I say though, that Mumsnet does not have chocolate hobnobs, what is the matter with them?

[RaveOnThisCrazyFeeling]

happydappy asked about what's fair to the women in the women's prison, though. Your reply didn't even mention them or their vulnerability or how they should be safeguarding. Do you want to follow up to answer the actual question about whether placing males in women's prisons is fair to the (female) women?

[JustineMumsnet]

Thanks so much Emily and everyone for the excellent questions. We'll close this chat now. We're busy lining up the remaining candidates so watch this space.