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 think that's one of the reasons why he still does fairly well with the laydee voters, we think he's solid and wouldn't fuck us about and would look after his responsibilities if he was our husband. plus, he's got a bit of a heathcliffe/mr rochester thing going on.

he could have debated the knickers right off us, basically, had he chosen to. we would have thrilled to it.

but no, the poxy system that we have demands that he comes on and bleh blehs about passion rather than showing it. which is a shame, but that's the system, not the guy, imo.

In that picture, is Justine fiddling with her hair while smiling? we all know what that means!

lol at 'if he was our husband' btw.

very fetching aitch! love the helmet perm too!

i was actually thinking more margot leadbetter from the good life. jerry... JERRY.

have had a wee peek at the archived version btw, and i am finding it adorable that the PM (or his nearest wonk) uses exclamation marks. it's so uncool that he's making it cool.

sniff

oi aitch did you see the thread I started in your honour

wonks, you are absolutely right re synthetic authenticity

He's a lot sexier than Tony Blair, and that's the truth.

If TB called me a silly bint I would smack him over the head with aitch's copy of the Female Eunuch.

If GB called me a silly bint I would probably gasp and simper and then join Madamedefarge in the swooning salon.

Thanks pointy, I am very pleased with myself (as per)

I think it is good to be pleased with oneself

well that's lucky for me

Oh, I thought I was the only one swooning at the dark and brooding Mr B

I agree, he is so much more appealing than Blair, less fake and plastic.

Sultry even.

There, I said it.

Totally in agreement - that's why its disappointing he doesn't seem to be able to wriggle free of the wonks...

blair is just a boy.

brown is a MAN. a flawed one, like i said before (as in WHY didn't you just call an election after the floods??!!) but decent.

where's the thread, muster? is it insulting and offensive?

If he could just manage to to reach for a bit of the "obama-like" bigger picture higher ground - stop pretending we haven't all been heading for a financial fall for yonks, we all knew it was coming, he must have known a lot sooner than us. Go the bipartisan route, rise above the schoolboy nonsense of parliament - show a bit of humility re his mistakes but show his essential good eggness....

"Can anyone explain to me why his responses on the childcare vouchers weren't satisfactory?"

Well I agree with the fact that it's not a sensible use of public money to subsidise higher rate tax-payers' childcare but...

1. The plans will force parents to use nurseries rather than childminders, as the current funding can be used for any ofsted registered childcare, and the new funding will only be for nursery places. And as we know, the jury is out on group childcare for under 3s, plus I think it will impact on childminder places and possibly put some out of business.

2. The current funding is directed towards working families as you need to be paying tax in order to take advantage of it, whereas afaik there is nothing to stop non-working parents putting their children in the funded nursery places. (As in indeed the case at the surestart 2 year olds nursery near us - a large % of the places are taken up by children whose parents don't actually need the care to work).

3. There is no guarantee (as far as I can see) that the places will be equally spread out and available to all those who need them. Pretty much anyone, anywhere in the UK can access a childminder or a nanny, but will the nursery places be available in rural areas for eg?

That's my objection anyway. I'd rather the funding were directed towards the most needy, but I think that could be achieved in other ways.

Gawd you are all embarrassing with your crushes on Gordon. Rochester? Pah.

Blair not a boy. Just too privately educated for words. [googles Gordon's education]

It is perfectly possible to have a teeny crush on Gordon and despise some of his actions and the prevalence of spin and bewail his inability to communicate effectively about the good stuff the government has done all at the same time...

well, rochester at the end... still a hunk but brought down by blindness and circumstance.

yy madamedefarge and perhaps pout and shout a bit as well???

I was a bit overcome when Justine said on the other thread that he kept shouting "Next Question".

OOh, the power.

oh yes, pouting and shouting obligatory, as well as asking searching biscuit related questions...

Blimey, what did he need more questions for? He didn't manage to answer the ones he had!

Whenever I see or hear Gordon speaking on the telly or radio, I start to yawn. Even when I'm really quite interested in the subject matter. His delivery is dire. I'm really not sure he's in the right job if he's a man who finds it difficult to get his message across.

And I'm ashamed of you all. You sound as though you want Gordon to drag you round the house by your hair, telling you to get on and peel the tatties. Gah.

oh lord yes, md. i think he's being undone by a bunch of twats and a tendency to a fatal dither, but my crush continues. mind you, i had a wee thing for donald dewar (HYOOOOOOGE brain) so i'm batting a sticky wicket.

i think that he's probably a goner, and i'm sad about that, not just for the country but because i think he's been brought down by a bullying press, egged on by the tories natch and members of his own party.

the fact that the print media is in its death throes means that any sense of fair play has long gone out of the window.

LOL, I have a teeny crush on GB myself. he's not fake like TB was. Even DC comes across as fake/plastic too, almost like a tory version of TB.

GB is a real man

I dont think the rest of his party help him much but I've always like GB and his straight talking style.

yes he does seem like a modern version of a austen/bronte character...

in RL swedes he is distinctly charming and masculine. but yes, oh dear not good on the tv. it's that telly-thenticity gene. he was born without one, i think.