Live chat with Nick Clegg, Tues Dec 11th from 2-3pm

[CarrieMumsnet]

Hi all

Nick Clegg, one of the contenders for the leadership of the Lib Dems, will be answering your questions on Mumsnet on Tues Dec 11th from 2-3pm.

If you can't make Tuesday's chat, please post your advance questions here.

For those of you who haven't perhaps followed Nick's career as closely as you should have, here's a short biog courtesy of his office:

Nick is MP for Sheffield Hallam (majority of 8,682) and the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary. He was born in 1967 and studied at Cambridge, Minnesota and College D?Europe. He's married to Miriam Gonzalez Durantez and has two young sons. He takes his parenting duties seriously; his working day usually starts by taking his sons to school and when Miriam returned to work after the birth of their first son, Nick stayed at home to look after their child.

Before entering Parliament, Nick worked as a journalist and then as a development aid and trade expert in the European Union, including managing aid projects in the poorest parts of the former Soviet Union and overseeing the EU?s side in negotiations for China and Russia to join the World Trade Organisation.

His political interests include the defence of civil liberties, campaigning against Identity Cards and proposing a Freedom Bill to repeal unnecessary legislation.

See you all for a late-lunch-at-the-computer on the 11th.

What do you mean about Doris Lessing MT?

Crossmount, responding to your question about food labelling, I'm very keen on giving consumers (especially parents) more information. Compared to other European countries, the diets of far too many British children are still far too unhealthy. This can only be changed if parents are given the right information to make the right decisions. I don't think it's illiberal to give parents the power to take good decisions for their children.

(Seduced by the inanities of the internet Lemon - not that MN is inane - not at its best anyway )

But Nick - The right to ask for flexible working is not really that great. Because the employers can just say no.
I organised my first flexible working change in 2001 so well before the new legislation. The second one required more negotiation but was originally turned down due to valid business reasons. I just argued my case VERY well and was going to use parental leave to give me nearly all I wanted.

How could you encourage employers to allow this, such as tax incentives?

If you coudl spend UNLIMIITED money on one thing that YOu feel would benfit most..what would it be>

I know - even David Cameron was quicker than this

i agree - i asked for flexible working too and it got turned down. it needs to be the right to flexible working hours not the right to ask for them imo.

To answer your question Littlesleighbellasringing. The first thing to say is that wherever possible we should do more to avoid family disputes coming to court in the first place. Courts become involved when there is a great deal of emotion, bitterness and mistrust, which court proccesses rarely dispel and often make worse. That is why i would like us to move towards compulsory mediation before child custody rows go to court. As for openness in family courts the government has just completed a public consultation on this and are due to be reporting soon.Personally, i would like to see more openness in family courts- though it is obvious that such openess should not take place in a way which harms children who are invariably innocent and vulnerable victims in deeply emotional conflicts in their own families.

Unquiet dad, to answer your first question, I doubt the Lib Dems will be in a position to play eeny-meeny-miny-mo (spelling?!)in British politics. For starters, politicians should never assume an outcome of an election before the voters have had their say. I suspect that if one of the other parties does not have a workable majority the question will fall most heavily on them whether they want to approach the Lib Dems or indeed make some deal amongst themselves. Either way, my sole task if i become leader of the Lib Dems will be to explain and explain again what we stand for, and that anyone who wants a more liberal Britain should vote for my party.

As for league tables, I think they are clumsy and rigid tools which often demoralise those schools who need the most help. I wouldn't scrap tables altogether, but i would like to emulate practice in other countries where the information contained is a far fairer reflection of the rounded qualities of each and every school.

Be nice ladies I remember Nick from uni [mysterious] and I can vouch for the fact he is a lovely bloke

yes he may have been

Is he too nice Enid? See my post of 10.35

Flamesparodyofchristmasname and nappies,the first thing to do is to establish whether reasonable nappies are significantly greener or not then disposable nappies. A couple of years ago the Environment Agency published a analysis of the 'life cycle'of different nappies which concluded that there wasn't much difference between disposable or reusable nappies.I want to see further research done to donfirm whether this is right or not. Without clear evidence one way or another, it will be difficult to ask councils to take further action.

What about the paradox of defending liberalism but not at the price of being inert in the face of religous fundametalism and attendant cultural threats? Should basic women's rights be forsaken if they are Islamic for example, in respect for the culture that oppresses them?

that nappies analysis was rubbish. See many mn threads on it.

You up next MP!

What is your position on academies and trust schools? Do you think private businesses should be involved in the running of school?

And further, if elected would you want to encourage more faith schools?

Martianbishop, I have a couple of excellent special needs schools in my constituency in Sheffield and am an avid campaigner to keep special needs schools open and properly resourced.Whilst no one can disagree with the idea of inclusion in mainstream schooling, this should never be used as an excuse to close down specialised schools.

On discipline, I think the key is to give additional resources to those schools that are dealing with the most difficult intakes, so that they can provide smaller class sizes, one to one tuition and catch up classes, particularly in the early years of primary school, before disruptive behaviour becomes an established pattern.

My kids like the blackcurrant flavour the best but i find them all far too sweet and sticky!