David Cameron live webchat, Friday 14th March 3.30-4.30

[JustineMumsnet]

David Cameron is coming back (which is more than we can say for Piers Morgan). The leader of the opposition will be logging on from The Tory party's spring forum in Gateshead this Friday pm, at 3.30. Come along and pose him a question about an issue relevant to you, or if you can't make it on the day, you can post advance questions here.
Best,
MNHQ

why's the lovely Piers not coming back?

Test Message

Do you think (as Labour seem to) that stay home parents (male or female) should go out and get jobs no matter what? I stay home, school age children, husband works fulltime. We are very happy with this but I am fed up of being made to feel I should 'get a job' and leave my children in after school clubs or anything it takes so long as I am in (paid) work.

Quite frankly, I have enough to do without doing 'work' for others on top and my husband could not work his job without me being here all the time as he is often posted away or on night shifts. Why is paid work the only work of value? Quite often, I am the only helper at my children's school (isn't voluntary work important?) and I also study with the OU, and I am happy and ready for the busy evening ahead waiting at the school gates and not exhausted (as I was previously when I worked full time.)

Dual income families also have their problems. Often they are just as financially dependent if they spilt up (since they may rely on both wages to live on) and there is no 'reserve worker' in case one cannot work. I know alot of mums and so many feel like I do that I am sure respecting parents choices rather than enforing one particular way (like Labour have done)will be a real vote winner.

Well said Jelly. I wanted to say something like that but could'nt get the words together

I pretty much totally second what Highlander's just said - maybe except 8 - that could be "ban alcopops and restrict the sale of alcohol to the over-30s"

oh and we need to move back from an easy-credit culture to a saving culture again - Nicola Horlick talked worryingly about this on Question Time last night - we'll shortly be owned by the speedily developing far eastern economies where individuals believe in saving rather than spending what they don't have, so:

How are you going to persuade us to save, rather than spend and consume

Oh and can we have a law in the UK where a person is deemed a child until their 18th birthday?? I'm fed up with having to pay adult prices because this company considers my 14 year old to be an adult and that company deems children to be adults at age 12 and so on. They are either a child until they are 18 or they are not. Companies should not be able to pick and choose the age at which they apply adult prices - this applies to services and goods.

What is the Tory party planning to do for families with disabled children? We can't all afford nannies you know.

How annoying that this has been scheduled for school run time!

where is this webchat thingy?

MN Tower - clearly dear Dave will not have time to answer all these questions, let alone others which are put when the rest of us are on the school run, so could you compile a list of questions from this thread and ask him to answer them later - which could then be published on the site???

I'm sure he will never have another opportunity to answer honestly so many questions on issues which are relevant to parents and it would be a shame if he didn't take advantage of it, wouldn't it??

David, please can you advise as to what changes if any you would propose for increasing the age at which children start school to bring it in line with other European Countries. I personally feel that the current situation disadvantages summer born boys who are not ready to sit still and learn at just turned 4. Your thoughts please. Thank you.

Ok, i have a point to raise.

Currently, our young boys are being failed most horribly by the school system. They are forced in barely out of nappies, and in order to get the help they need to have the time to mature, Special Needs labels are applied to them. "Lack of focus" "Short attention span" and "Immature emotional behavior" all spring to mind. they are four year old boys. This is like saying a toddler has special needs because s/he wets him/herself.

However, we have the 'choice' to keep our children out until they are 5 - upon which they will enter school at year one, instead of reception, and will be expected, again, to have a huge amount of focus.

How do you intend to address this nationwide problem of applying the label "Boy = Yob"? The current system sets them up for failure so well that the ones who achieve are standing out, and it should not be that way.

Oh Smurfs, X post!

here here TAF

Dave, why can't disabled poeple under 60 have the winter fuel allowance? We struggle keeping one room warm for dd (severe quadraplegic cerebral palsy) while in-laws go ski-ing with their winter allowance. DLA just isn't stretchy enough, especially with rising fuel costs.
Is the tory party supporting Roger Berry's bill for fuel allowance for disabled poeple and those with disabled children? huh?

Hi Freckle, your post of 13:43:45 makes a very good point. We will certainly ask if there's any way that the outstanding questions can be answered if not now, then at a later date but obviously we can't make any promises.
MN Towers

Dave- why don't terminally ill patients in our wonderful hospice system get more priority in funding terms,to ensure they can be at home with their loved ones for their final days. These families should not have to jump through bureaucratic hoops to justify the need for home support when endorsed by the hospice staff.

What will your policy be on this?

Hello,

As it stands at the moment the law requires that children's services do not remove children from their birth families unless it is absolutely necessary, and only when all other alternatives have been explored.

Do you agree that the lack of facilities for 24 hour supervision and assessment of families contributes to the number of babies and children removed? Is reversing this trend a priority for you?

Today's news is filled with Mr Cameron's new announcement about extended maternity leave for both parents. Despite the hype am I right in thinking that the only difference between his policy and the current Gov policy (to be implemnted by 2010) is that he would allow both parents to take time off concurrently?

Can you explain why all political parties seem to support the levying of VAT on sanitary products?

I want to hear jellybeans' question about 'forced' working answered. I seem to remember that there are big changes planned to the system of support for e.g. lone parents, whereby lone parents are financially penalised for not taking jobs.

Yet I don't see any corresponding announcements about what the government is doing to work with businesses to increase the opportunities for flexible working so that it becomes more financially viable for people with caring responsibilities to come off income support.

February's issue of the Royal Society of Economics' Economic Journal included research showing that more than one in five women from other professional occupations downgrade - and almost half of these move into jobs where the average employee lacks A-levels.

What would the Conservatives do to increase the availability of flexibility in order to offer parents a real choice about whether to work, or not, and how to work?

Wow jusitne some great quesions here!

How the hell have you formed a shortlist???!

Justine- sorry!!

Latest is that Dave might be five minutes or so late folks - so still time to make a cuppa.