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 want to start a book. A bookies book that is, on whether gordon uses last few mins to answer questions on X factor and Biscuits. Latter will be his last answer I reckon. Any takers?

Will that point work now I've said it out loud?

Hello Gordon, hope your eye is better.

Please look again at University funding for students from low income families.

I'm pleased with a lot of the improvements Labour have made over the years in general. Good luck in the forthcoming elections.

I agree with Vulpus.

Those waivers might need to be conditional on universities providing proper training for staff though so that they are adequately prepared to support students with disabilities and multiple responsibilities etc.

I did some work on this before I left the UK and HE. A diverse student body has different needs to the kind of intake that was around in 1997 ...

Would be happy to join another thread on this after ...

Hey, cupcakes are amazing. Don't knock them.

[sticks finger in ears and pretends she didn't hear "busy mum" - please don't use that awful phrase again. do you define yourself as a "busy dad"?]

"I think Sarah works much harder than me!"

• so when the boys were small you never came in muttering, or thinking, "this place is a tip, what do you do all day, I'm the Prime Minister, dont-you-know?"

what do you think to the fact the scottish students don't pay uni fees, yet the english ones have to?

pretty unfair i say

plain chocolate tea cakes would be my guess

Springlamb you raise a good point small employees and also those on benefits should not be worse off if they take a job - give support from gov't so the real costs to the gov't / employer are worked out - otherwise we won't get people off benefits / support small businesses if gov't cannot find a flexible way to 'do the right thing'.

Who do you think is the father of Heather's baby in EastEnders?

Team price or team Andre?

please answer SN questions.

d'you think we could all club together and send the PM some vouchers for typing school? Or d'you think he's being distracted by Justine\s big pile of Ferrero Rocher?

I wager on biscuits, as my question on immigration has been ignored, no soundbite I suppose

Gordon, you have commented on how wonderful Sure Start centres are, but could you please respond to the rest of my question?

I am posting on behalf of lots of people and it would be great to give them a proper answer to their questions.

Thank you.

Thanks for coming Mr Brown

I think he'll be paying tribute to Stephen Gately actually...

well bumbling, I'll wager a fiver that he mentions labourspace.com one more time

Pensions ???? ...... please offer some reassurance on this. How are millions of us without any sort of remotely decent pension (and without the current means to do anything about that) supposed to live in the future ?

I reckon he eats Tunnocks Caramel Wafers - the dark choc ones.

I doubt you will have time to answer my earlier dying cyclists question here, but could you at least ask road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick to rethink his rejection of making the lorry firms retrofit the safety mirrors. Thank you.

oh surely he'll answer the home edding question? It's been asked masses of time now, it would be embarrassing to ignore it

Mme D - that comment might throw Mr. Cameron, but you just know Mr. Brown can nibble a pink iced fairy cake and still be all man.

By GordonBrown on Fri 16-Oct-09 13:45:42
Edam,
Yes we are moving to a biometric passport, but that's what every country is trying to do. Your passport can be your source of identity. We are asking for very little more information than is now asked for your passport, and it is voluntary.

I'm sorry Prime Minister, but this simply isn't true.

Biometric passports record up to 50 individual pieces of data on an individual. I believe traditional passports recorded 6. Surely this is just information collection for information collection's sake?!