Gordon Brown on Mumsnet this Friday (16th October) lunchtime between 1-2 pm

[JustineMumsnet]

We're delighted to announce that the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will be logging on to Mumsnet for a live webchat on Friday (tomorrow) lunchtime from 1 to 2. The PM is ready to answer Mumsnetters' questions on a wide-range of policy issues from the economy to education and from childcare to climate change.

As you know we're not great ones for rule books here at MNHQ, but we'd like this to be as useful and enlightening an event as it can be, for all involved. We aren't going to pre-moderate or pre-select questions - the format will be as per usual - but given the likely popularity of this webchat, the sheer number of you all and our past experience of trying to fit everything in, we've come up with a few ground rules which we'd be very grateful if you'd follow.

Guidelines for MN webchat with PM

1. To allow as many folks as possible to be involved, please restrict your questions to one per member plus a follow up question if appropriate, i.e. once you've had a response. (NB don't even think about name changing to ask another, we'll be watching!).

1. Please keep your question reasonably brief (we'll not doing a word count but it will increase your chance of getting an answer, we suspect, if you don't bang on for paragraphs)

1. It's highly unlikely he'll be able to answer everyone's question but we'll make every effort to bring common themes to his attention. Please don't be too disappointed if your specific question doesn't get answered and do try not to keep posting "What about me?". He can't answer them all and he is the PM after all - so has a quite few time constraints.

1. Obviously you're free to voice your opinion but do be civil/polite - the PM is our guest on Mumsnet so, whatever your politics, please afford him the same cordiality you would if he stopped by your own house.

Many thanks - feel free to put your question up in advance if you can't make the live chat on Friday lunchtime.

I have to add this update to my earlier, lengthy post about the erosion of our civil liberties, as I've just heard the issue of the DNA Database discussed in Parliament on the radio.

I'd forgotten that almost a year ago the European Court of Human Rights declared that the DNA Database is illegal, yet since then 300,000 more people's details have been added. Contrast this with the BNP, who have today been ordered to close their books to new members until they comply with the UK's race relations laws. Does this mean that we expect higher standards of moral behaviour from the BNP than from our government?

there are so many questions

what spidermama said (and incidentally why do you all fly off on a jolly to these climate change conferences with the whole entourage havn't you heard of videolink?)

childcare vouchers why are you getting rid of them?
(tax deductible childcare for all why just the self-employed?)

political meddling in the NHS

huge amount of wasted money in the NHS (PFI/management consultants)

public drinking

why is it that so many people would be better off financially if they were separated? we would be, bizarrely we would also be better off if we didn't bother working is this really sustainable?

what others have posted about more concrete support for families/middle incomes here in London a normal salary doesn't go very far!

house prices? are you aware a whole generation has been 'damaged' by this (I was going to use another word ) please justify why high house prices are a good thing (surely they are a roof over your head/a home for your children not an investment) did you not see the article in the ES this week about needing to earn over 90K to buy an 'average' prices house in parts of London? Incidentally we wrote to you about this years ago Lib Dems and Tories replied you didn't does that reflect the importance you place on family homes or simply that you can't justify your stance?

what bossykate said about a windfall tax

if you are going after public sector pensions since they have been widely promoted as deferred salary what kind of pay rises are you thinking of bringing in to compensate people?

why is the achievement in schools so woeful (and the standards so low)?

finally in view of your well known 'no more boom and bust' comment how can you square the recent headlines about banks profits and bonuses with what is about to happen to the public sector? how can over 18% increases in tube fares be justified when some sectors are reaping the benefits of the lax regulation in London yet relying on the taxpayer to bail them out? do you actually propose to do anything? why not get Goldman to sponsor crossrail with this quarters profits instead of hammer the poor taxpayers?

lots of questions for you please pick one....

Let's talk about tax (baby) and spending

Lots of positive anti-avoidance measures have been taken recently - for example, the world-wide debt cap is a scintillating piece of legislation.

But I'm concerned that the emphasis has been quite repressive and indeed regressive. A top rate of income tax of 50% puts the UK at one of the highest rates of tax in the developed world. Discouraging entrepreneurial behaviours doesn't seem the best move in a recession

All the measures have been about raising revenues. None of them have been about cutting spending. What are Labour's plans to give the public sector a trim?

(yes can I suggest the woman who stands at the door of the school marking my dcs as late when they are in the grounds before the whistle has gone just through a different gate as the first for the sack, surely we can save a big salary and public sector pension there?

heard about a new street naming executive job to join the LA street naming team the other day can that be second?

make a change from the usual Drs and nurses!)

I echo FlamingoBingo's question about the home education review.
Would be very grateful if you would
take a moment to answer it.
Thank you.

Can someone please ask why the government are dismissing the Cambridge Primary review advising that children should start formal education later? I've already asked a question but heard about it on the radio this morning so if someone else could ask it I would be very grateful

Sorry if this has already been asked, but I can't read the whole thread as I am running out the door. I am going to try and be here at lunchtime, but in advance my question is:

• In July, when Goldman Sachs repaid the bail out loan they were given last year, was there a huge interest payment on top of it to thank the taxpayers for their generosity? And given that GS has just announced huge profits and potentially huge bonuses for their staff, how does the government propose to remove banks' incentives to make risky investments since it seems that when they fail, they will be rescued and when they make all the money, they get to keep it?

PS: I would really like this answered with practical solutions, will there be legislation? Will the FSA be given sharper teeth? Because self-regulation [hollow laugh emoticon] DOES NOT WORK and standing there wringing hand and asking them, pretty please, not to pay bonuses to people who have previously lost billions will not work either. The masters of the universe do not care what we think of them.

PPS: I won't post all that essay this afternoon, I promise MN.

Well done, MNHQ and welcome to MN, Prime Minister.

I would like to ask about voting rights for British expats abroad.

I left Scotland when I was 19 years old, for a year as an aupair in Germany. I had no idea that I would meet and marry a German man and (so far) never return to the UK. Before I left Scotland I did not register to vote.

Later I discovered that I am now illegible to vote as I had never registered.

Why is this a condition for voting rights?

Thank you.

• Did you have a good laugh at Carla's drawing? She so obviously does not want to portray any other women looking attractive.

Hi,

I saw the article in the Independent today (which mentions Mumsnet) about single parent asylum seekers having their support cut, and I wanted to ask Gordon Brown why he is cutting support to people who are already so poor (and not allowed to work), and what impact this is going to have on children.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/allowance-cut-hits-the-vulnerable-180362 6.html

Hello Gordon,

I'm concerned that the level of maternity pay is still ridiculously low. We hear it is best for children to have one on one care from their mother in the early months of their life, yet the period for which women have full or 90% pay while on maternity leave is very short, and many women can't afford not to work so go back to their jobs earlier than they would like to. What are you going to do to change this/make the situation better?

Thank you.

Hello, Gordon (I feel I can call you Gordon since, after all, if you reply to this, you will be calling me "Hunkermunker").

Do you think that there is a danger that politicians are largely out of touch with people's concerns? And wouldn't it make more sense to make it easier for women-who-also-happen-to-be-mothers to have more input into politics/business in general by putting more family-friendly policies in place, instead of women having to ignore/suppress their mother status and conform to what is presently a male-led, man-friendly environment?

What's currently there is optional, really - for instance, I have a statutory right to ASK for family-friendly working, but my company can easily say no.

I appreciate it's difficult - make policies that are too rigid and you run the risk of companies thinking twice about employing women.

Or would you perhaps like someone to keep you up-to-date on this sort of thing, without having to run the MN gauntlet - if so, MNHQ can contact me on your behalf for my rather impressive CV I'll help you increase breastfeeding rates in the UK too; I'm sure this is one of your top priorities.

Hello

Just wondering how much of a priority you place on supporting and encouraging breastfeeding?

We know if a child is breastfed it reduces their chances of heart disease in adulthood yet campaigns such as 'change4life' make no mention of breastfeeding.

The national breastfeeding support infrastructure (e.g. national helpline) is currently held together by volunteers. In large parts of the country a mother is unable to receive face-to-face support from someone qualified to offer it. Midwives and health visitors may have had as little as 6 hrs training.

So many mothers and babies are being letdown. Government infant feeding survey revealed 90% of mothers how gave up in the first 2 weeks wished they could have continued further.

Help!

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

Thank you for coming on to MNHQ to answer our question. It is very appreciated.

I would like to ask, please, if your government has any plans to increase paternity leave (and make it paid) or even - yes, I do dare to hope - introduce shared paid parental leave, where working parents can have 6 months paid leave each to care for their babies during the first year of their lives ?

Thank you very much in advance and wishing you all the best.

Why does housing benefit cover rent in full, year upon year upon year, even though some tenants have no intention of ever working full time, secure in the knowledge that their rent will be paid effectively forever, when people who have worked and secured themselves a mortgage get precious little help when they find themselves out of work, and have to wait a considerable amount of time for the little amount of help they do get? There is no sanctions or time limits that people in rented accomodation can claim for, and I am not the only one with this question. My local council cannot understand it either.
Some people with mortgages are actually worse off financially than people on benefits. How are you going to even up the balance?

I'm not one to stick up for MPs but this Legg action on expenses is bang out of order. Seems to me he's arbitrarily decided expenses limits after the event, making MPs pay back money and look like they've broken rules which didn't exist.

So my question is a simple one:

Has Sir Thomas Legg exceeded his remit? Yes or no?

ADOPTION

Dear Mr Brown

When will the government correct the disparity between maternity and adoption pay?

Currently, there is no legal requirement for a company to pay a woman adopting a child the six week payment of 90% of her salary which a birth mother is paid.

An adoptive mother taking time off work needs the same financial support as a birth mother, especially as an adoptive parent(s) will be relieving social services of the heavy financial burden of a child or children in care.

Surely this can been seen as discrimination?

I have asked a question about university places that no-one is interested in but I do think the issues coming up over and over include:

*childcare tax relief for the self-employed

*the issue of primary school provision, start dates and would be good to have a response on the Cambridge review published today

*Bank bonuses

*energy policy

*breastfeeding and midwifery provision

I would like to ask about the Cambridge Primary review in the nes this morning.

If the evidence is there that children benefit from a more informal play based education until the age of 6, why aren't the Government giving the report it's full backing and making the changes necessary to give all of our children the best start in education possible?

Thankyou

Thanks Justine. I've already asked a question, but I'd really like the PM to answer the one about childcare tax breaks for self-employed people that has been mentioned a few times (but which I didn't ask).

news not nes

AAargh

YY and the Cambridge review.

Prime Minister,

Why has your government dismissed the Cambridge Primary Review's Recommendation 'to delay the start of formal learning to age 6'?

Many of us have personal experience of the damage done to our children by starting their formal learning before they are ready.

Well managed, play base learning is still learning - just learning that is appropriate for very young children.