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.

Have just seen his answer to my question re childcare vouchers. Have also just phoned DH at work (he's a tax strategist) with Gordon Brown's answer. He is furious, and has picked GB's response to pieces. It's more nonsense from the Labour Camp

silly women asking the PM about biscuits of something headline!

Maybe we should start a Mumsnet Political Party - we would have the country sorted by noon, and I reckon we'd have a pretty good laugh doing it too!!

Admittedly am slightly disappointed, but more in myself for thinking this would be anything other than a press stunt. Shame.

LOL at the description on MN Gordon Brown - PM answers questions live ON DISSCUSSIONS OF THE DAY!

MORE LIKE PM DODGES QUESTIONS LIVE[GRIN]

OPPS capps

another vote for a top 10 with live follow ups

Paolosgirl-what page was it on-I want to know what he said.I rely on those ruddy vouchers.

I didnt think he answered very much really and it was all a bit 'party line' really.What a shame he couldnt inject more personality into it-thought he might be better online than on TV as its less directly audience facing.
Was it definately him?I have horrid visions of Peter Mandelson typing away.That said his answers would have been more lively probably.

oh PLEASE get Peter Mandelson on here, he would be fab

I wonder what his posting name would be?

He could come on as 'Machiavelli' (sp?)
Or something more cryptic...maybe 'The thin controller'

Not that Im suggesting he actually runs the country or anything

Very disappointed he didn't take the time to answer my question, along with many of the other important ones.
The PM's silence on an issue leads one to presume that he had no justifiable response to it which is quite depressing actually.

Well that was a waste of an hour trawling through all that lot.

Dull, shallow answers to everything, and the platitudes sent towards the Armed Forces were rude and offensive in the extreme.

Poor effort Gordon, very poor effort.

I bet he chooses what biscuits go in Gordon's cookie jar

I really thought he would come and give us some straight answers- as a Labour supporter, that's the bit I am most disappointed in, actually. Well...I shall go back to the group of people I was posting on behalf of and let them know that it was a pointless task.

oh god TheFoosa wouldn't it?
I think it would be chocolate Leibniz all round

hear hear, even if you don't like the answer at least you would get an answer!

PeterMandelson's mumsnet name would be BaronCashmereInSuperiorWool

He has Fig Rolls.And sometimes very occasionally a Jammy dodger, but only if he has done very well at PMQ's.

LOL.

I just don't believe anyone over the age of 12 likes fig-rolls

MNHQ - would it be possible to create a thread containing all of GB's responses (and possibly the original question(s) that each relates to? I was struggling to keep up during the chat as it moved so quickly and it takes FOREVER to go through the whole thread.

Was pretty much what I expected - he's a politician after all, though I was disappointed that he completely sidestepped some of the things that were being asked repeatedly, particularly HE and Armed Forces/Afghanistan qus, and I could also have done without the ppb at the end.

I bet he's gone right off Millionaire's Shortbread since the banking crisis.

Gordon Brown at 13:21
"However, we promote informed choice for mothers and their partners in deciding how to feed their infants and we fully support mothers in their choice of feeding method."

'Informed choice' we hear these two every time politicians and medical bods try to hide their ignorance the lack of genuine support for breastfeeding within the NHS.

How many end up mums bottle feeding because they weren't informed properly so didn't have the choice? Especially when they found breastfeeding difficult, how many were given support to get past their difficulties?

How many babies were given a choice?

yes informed choice and breastfeeding don't really go together in a NHS where most professionals know sweet FA about BF do they.

Fig Rolls rock.

But he didn't answer my (admittedly crap) question.

MNHQ when Sarah B comes in, can it not be on a Friday lunchtime?
Any other bloody day, but not a Friday! Blinking swimming lessons.

Of course he was going to tout for business as it were, would you come and chat online to a bunch of harridans for an hour without anything in it for you???

See he pretty much ignored my question on privacy/surveillance, choosing only to bang on about biometric passports (and being disingenuous about them anyway).

Shame. Abolishing ID cards and stopping councils using anti-terrorist/organised crime legislation to spy on ordinary people would save a ton of money as well as redressing the balance between citizen and state.

Hi Midnight Express, Gerrymumsnet is beavering away as we speak and the archived (and easier-to-follow) webchat will be live and linked to from the home page by the end of the day. This will include all the Q and As but without the waffle!