MNHQ here: got a question for the Prime Minister?

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Hi all,

We’re pleased to tell you that next week Justine will be sitting down with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask him Mumsnet users’ questions.

If you have a question you'd like answering, you can post it below. Please stick to the usual guidelines - one question per user, keep it civil, and if one topic is dominating, please don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. We'll be limited for time so do keep questions as short as possible so that we’re able to ask more of them - as always, we'll try to make sure we cover the topics that we know are important to Mumsnet users.

We'll be closing this thread at noon on Monday, so please do get your questions in before that - and watch this space to hear how the Prime Minister responds.

Thanks,
MNHQ

(I know this isn't my first question, but you're probably quite short of ones you can ask)

What are your biggest professional and personal regrets in the last 2 years?

Not a question as such but I would like to challenge you and your Ministers to spend a week living on basic benefits with caring responsibilities to see what it is really like juggling every penny or to follow from start to finish a person's journey to apply for disability benefits and see how irrelevant most of the questions are to real life and how impossibly difficult it is to get any help.

What evidence does the government have that changes to childcare ratios will cut costs for parents, and what assessment has been done on the impact of looser ratios on SEND children?

Like at PM’s questions:
”Would the Prime Minister agree with me and the residents of <insert name of obscure constituency> that his policy on <incomprehensible gibberish about bypass, potholes or some pressing local issue> is an undeniable triumph and a vindication of the good sense of the electorate of <obscure constituency> in returning a Tory MP.”
Preens, sits down with smug expression.

Where’s the extra £450 million/week for the NHS will you stop selling off the lucrative bits of the NHS to foreign health care companies

borntobequiet

😁

Johnson, I can see that the only reason you’d come here would be so that you could reply to the question “What is a woman?” with the obvious, biological answer. I’m sure you assume this will be enough to have gender critical women flocking to your cause.

As a gender critical woman I say this is not enough. The tide is turning on that front, and I have no doubts whatsoever that were your focus groups to tell you that “Transwomen are women” was the more popular response, that that is what you would say. You are no friend to women or our rights.

You don’t get points for stating easy truths when you surround them with easier lies.

My question is; Why haven’t you resigned yet?

Do you ever think about how history will judge you?

My opinion is you will be seen as someone who only chose to head Brexit as a way in to be PM, who has lied frequently including -the two times you have been sacked, the time you lied to The Queen and who feels the rules never apply to you.

Thanks for the questions so far.
A number of you have asked about why we’re doing this or how the questions will be chosen.

Part of our mission at MNHQ is to raise women’s voices, and make sure the our users' concerns are heard in the places where decisions are made. Whatever you think of Boris Johnson, it's undeniable that he’s the key person taking decisions every day that affect the lives of Mumsnet users.

The way the interview works is that we at HQ choose the questions - there's no sign off process by anyone in the PMs team. We have limited time so will only be able to put a limited number to him but our aim is to pick questions that best reflect the views and concerns expressed here. (And of course we're mindful and looking for planted questions from non-regular users - we're more able to filter those out than were it a live webchat format).

Obviously we can’t force the PM to give straight answers (and I don't pretend to be, nor see it as my place to be Jeremy Paxman) but we can put the kind of questions that he might not get asked in an everyday media interview, and give airtime to topics that might otherwise not get any.

Also bear in mind this thread is public - and it gives a good indication, I'd say, of the issues people care about and the strength of feelings held.

So please keep the questions coming and remember just one per user is the rule and we'll do our best to represent the spirit of thread faithfully.

can you recommend a very good port to accompany an outstanding Stilton?

I think as a seasoned bon viveur he’s likely to give his most useful and honest answers to this and similar.

I know this isn't the most pressing issue, but it's one that really bugs me. Why is our country so scruffy? When we want to invite investment and tourism to our country, why do we leave the roads and roadsides in such a hideous state?
It is such a depressing place sometimes. I hate my children growing up in country which seems to have such a lack of respect for itself.

And someone in power, you possibly don't see the reality as I imagine a lot of places get tidied up before you visit, but the day-to-day reality for me is walking along littered scruffy roads, with piles of leaves from last autumn rotting in corners and seeing weeds grow up so high in towns they are cracking through the pavements.

We have recently returned from living on the continent, I can't tell you how stark the difference is. Obviously people need to drop litter for it to be there… But why is our country is so different to so many of our neighbours? And why can't we clear the litter and leaves etc that are there?

I know many people will be asking about the cost of living, and crises that feel more pressing, but whatever my personal circumstances I always prioritise trying to keep our house clean and tidy so it is a welcoming place for my children to grow up in.

Why can't you do the same for our country? Despite the issues we are all facing at the moment, we need to feel hope and enthusiasm for the future and some pride in our country.

Thank you for listening.

In 2019 when you became PM minimum wage was £8.21 an hour or £303.77 on a 37 hour contract for those 25 and over.
It's now £9.50 an hour, or £351.50 a week, a difference of £47.73
On 6th May 2019 the average weekly cost of fuel was £135.41, on 9th May 2022 it was £178.39. A difference of 42.98
You keep telling us we are better off now. How?

Follow up question
How does the increase in income tax make peoples finances better?

I name changed for my question but am a regular.

I’d like to change my question, since it was a throw away one.

Given the immediate threat of the climate crisis, what are you actually doing about it? Insulating people’s homes, incentivising the use of renewable energy at home, bringing back support to buy solar panels etc. all these things could help people with the cost of living as well as reduce our carbon footprint. Where is the support for families to do the right thing?

There seems to be a growing disconnect between the inclinations of voters, who are broadly conservative with a small c, and the agendas of public authorities which influence all our lives (NHS, police forces, schools) which are all largely driven by “progressive” ideology (unquestioning acceptance of gender ideology and critical race theory etc). Do you see problems with this situation and if so how will you tackle them?

Why (in the year 2022) does a man dressed up like Eboneezer Scrouge have to bang on the door with a big stick ?

Does the Tory party realise that 1922 (the year which it's committee is named after) is now a century ago ?

To expand. The parliamentary system in Westminster seems to some like an antiquated system setup in an antiquated building not fit for the current times. The sight of MPs sitting on opposing sides on green benches, jeering shouting and waving papers at each other is depressing and seems like an inefficient way to handle debates to many. Why has billions been spent to renovate the Palace of Westminster when for much much less taxpayers money a new modern build could have been build with a modern design such as a circular round debating chamber which would encourage cross party collaboration and civility in the debating chamber. The current system may be a great spectacle to watch, but it is sad to think this is the way our country is run. Why was so much spent to renovate this outdated but beautiful building, was it in the nation's interest or just in the interest of the people that work there ? The site could have been sold for a vast sum of money to a developer to do something different with it ( and restore and respect the beauty of the building) and a new modern parliament built somewhere else. Would this have represented much better use of public funds ?

Can we have an English parliament ? It seems a little unfair that the other countries of the UK get one but England is just stuck with the UK parliament.

The poster is proud of our country's history of democracy. But surely some of these antiquated rituals belong just there, in history.

Sorry for so many questions.

Thank you

Why do you insist on not resigning?

Prime Minister- are there plans to increase the hourly rate your government pay to early years settings for the 20/30 “free hours” provision so more parents can access support to which they are entitled?

Many nurseries, including our own cannot accept free hours because to do so, they would be operating at a loss.

Childcare is becoming prohibitively expensive in my area, and many parents I know cannot afford to work.

Given that things are going to become more difficult for a lot of families: Is it ok for people in need to break laws in a limited and specific way to ensure they can feed, clothe and heat their families?

Prime Minister,
given your track record of a lifetime of dishonesty, why should anyone have any trust or belief in a single word you say?

There is of course a whole list of things I could ask, as could others, but we all know for sure that he will sidestep and spout the same platitudes that we are all so used to. And will very definitely go nowhere near the crux of the matter: integrity and honesty and the maintenance of true democracy.

Why are Mumsnet giving him this platform? That is all it is - it is not a genuine opportunity to get some sense out of him. Why give him this chance to self-promote? What can you be thinking?

Are you going to do the same with Kier Starmer? - or is Mumsnet now the Tory party mouthpiece?

Why are companies allowed to buy multiple BTL residential properties without having to pay the right amount of tax? Many MPs including chancellors benefit from this and run property portfolios for either themselves or their relatives. How is this even allowed?

Follow up. You have allowed rents to rise so much, (even though many properties are not fit for habitation) and consequently house prices that for the majority of the population it was not possible to have saved any credible amount in case of an emergency let alone a pandemic. Small businesses closed down. Where is the limit of the free market controlling everything to our own detriment?

Here is my question: why do you care so little about democracy?

What do you think your legacy will be? How do you think you have effected politics? Do you think you have faithfully represented the British people and their interests? Or are you willing to accept that you have faithfully represented the interests of the ruling class and damaged democratic processes in a way that will be felt, by the people you claim to represent, long into the future?

One from my kids:
Why would the imperial system be better than the metric system they learn in school?
And a follow up from me: Are you using this idea as a Daily Mail headline grabber to distract from your criminal offence?