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.

yes WorthIt- I wasn't bleating or contradicting you, just trying to get the PM to pay attention to it.

This is probably slighly odd but I've been thinking about this recently:

My question is why doesn't the government make prisons more unpleasant places to be for inmates?

Making them more uncomfortable would cut the cost to taxpayers (cheapest food imaginable, turn the heating down so fairly cold etc.) and make imprisonment a greater deterrent to potential criminals (or at least those where their crime was premeditated).

It's a no-brainer to me. Cut crime, reduce costs.

Dear Mr Brown,

Welcome to Mumsnet.

Can you please explain why we still don't use Proportional Representation at UK parliamentary elections? Is it because you're scared you might lose? I'd definitely vote for the party brave enough to implement such radical reforms.

Dear Gordon
Can people with mental illness ever be open about it and still hope to be successful, professionally, given that the country is run by tabloid?
Thank you

PS You have my vote (on a personal level) but mainly because I'd rather pull out my fingernails than vote Tory.

omg mumfromdelmonet have you ever been in a prison? have you any idea what huge rates of mental illnesses there are in prisons? have you any idea how hard it is to get proper medical care if you're in prison? have you any idea how many women commit suicide or self-harm in prison? have you any idea how much bullying and violence there is in prison? have you any idea what it's like to have nothing to do all day? to not be allowed to educate yourself? have you ever thought about how huge a punishment incarceration in and of itself is? prisons are not holiday camps. I expect this isn;t the place to respond to questions (unless you're GB...!) - but yours just made my jaw hit the floor.

I didn't say there couldn't be support for people with mental illness and training programmes to rehabilitate people though.

I suppose that did sound a bit Daily Mail of me.

Better knock this on its head and start a new thread to discuss though or major thread hijack will happen.

agreed - about not hi-jacking. sorry everyone!

Please ask Mr Brown if there are any plans to change NI contributions for people who stay at home to bring up their children but are not on benefits? It seems unfair that people who decide to bring up their children are penalised for wanting to do one of the most natural things in the world. And if there are plans to pay basic contributions for people bringing up their children - then please could this be backdated

Mr Prime Minister,

If you could go back in time knowing what you know now, honestly, what advice and encouragement would you whisper into this young man's ear?

www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00503/15brown_385x185_503222a.jpg

Why do they need changing, Leish? You get Home Responsibilities Protection as long as you are receiving Child Benefit for a child under 16. (There is a limit to the number of years you can get but it's quite high)

If unscripted, you were posting on Twitter, would anyone follow you? Do you realise how much of your support is attributable to Sarah?

Also, what are your two reasons why I shouldnt vote for David Cameron?

What is the government doing to address the inequality between pro rata salaries paid for part time jobs and full time jobs? Even in my working enviroment ( a fairly right-on University) there is a massive disparity between prorata pay for jobs advertised as part time and full time.

Would you consider paying teachers who work in challenging inner city schools (and similar) more than those in schools populated by middle class families. Could schools that have large numbers of children with english as an additional language get significantly more funding. I am not a teacher but I see how hard the teachers work at my kid's school and how supportive they are to kids coming to this country from all over the globe (often from war torn corners). The teachers give of their own time to support kids and their families.

Congratulations on your plans to attend the Copenhagen summit on climate change - are you disappointed that more leaders aren't going to attend - why do you think that is? And how worried are you and Sarah about global warming?

Hello Gordon Brown. Tis an honour.

I would love to be able to vote Labour again but while you're funding new coal-fired power stations, failing to curb the dangerously excessive carbon emissions from the aviation and shipping industries and failing to invest properly in renewable energy I cannot be complicit in what appears to me to be a sleepwalk into catastrophic climate change which is already killing people and will wreak havoc in the lifetimes of our children and their children.

How do you intend to make your mark on Planet Earth's date with destiny - the climate change agreement in Copenhagen in December?

Hello Mr Prime Minister and well done MNHQ.

I found it really hard to come up with a question as most other people have asked the ones I want answers to. But I have one question (actually two but I'm hoping if I can link them no-one will notice!).

Will you actually do anything with the issues that are highlighted? Does what we the voters say actually make any difference to your policy making? I guess what I want to know is is this a cynical marketing exercise or does Mr Brown genuinely want to hear what we have to say. You can't tell my tone from this post but I am asking in an earnest and hopeful way, not a confrontational, cynical one.

Also, this is the one I'm trying to sneak in so ignore it if you want but why should I bother voting Labour when I am in a Lib dem strong hold? YOu can couch the two questions under the gernal theme of why bother? Why bother voting and telling politicians what we want? (And there's the link...)

Yes on the subject of climate change, why don't you just bite the bullet and make people pay for the true cost of air travel, instead of largely ignoring it and focusing all the energy on cutting other emissions drastically in order to meet targets? Wouldn't increased air travel costs be fairer - and would largely effect the wealthiest not the poorest (as increased energy prices do)?

I wish GB could lean on that nice Mr Obama to make Americans pay as much for their fuel as we do - that would save a lb or 2 of CO2

My question is regarding the current debacle with Student Finance England and their inability to cope with this years high levels of applicants.

What are the government going to do to ensure that the same thing does not happen next year, and what is being done now to rectify this situation?

I can remember "speaking" on here with a lovely lady last winter who couldnt afford to turn her heating on even though there was snow on the ground outside. She has a severely disabled daughter who is unable to regulate her body temperature so this was potentially a very dangerous situation. My question is on behalf of her really because I am so shocked she had to live like this.

"There are thousands of people living in fuel poverty but predictions are that the cost of fuel will rise by another 26% above inflation and that the energy watchdog can do nothing about this.

What are YOU going to do about it?"

Dear PM,

My question is about renewable energy.

Please could you tell me why we are planning more coal fired power stations, and not using renewable energy? Why, as in Scotland, do we not have more Hydroelectricity plants, or use more wind turbines? (they are often seen not working, even on a mildly breezy day)

I for one, would be happy to have solar panels.

Is it crazy that we get our gas from Norway, through the longest pipeline to Easington in the UK?

Its time we used the knowledge we have to get this country up and running and self sufficient, don't you think?!

Thanks for your time.

Ps don't get me started on the so-called 'Green Car' - what utter nonsense - where does the power come from the charge up the batteries - a coal fired power station of course!

Dear Prime Minister

Final salary public sector pensions are unsustainable. If you disagree with that statement what is you action plan to avoid a pension crisis.

JD