Live webchat with David Cameron - this Thursday 19th, 1.45 pm

[JustineMumsnet]

Hello all - David Cameron is coming on to Mumsnet to answer your questions this Thursday at 1.45-2.45. Please post advance questions here if you can't make it on Thursday. (And please read our Webchat guidelines above before posting ie only one question each). Many thanks.

It's silly to judge those who have retiorement care costs paid- people arepoor becuase they were hit by pension afilures, or got sick and couldn't work, or....

so many reasons

Considering the hype about us being a major vote worth fighting for, this hasn't gone too well.
Whilst I understand that keeping up and answering live isn't easy, as others have mentioned before, you could have printed this thread so you could read up on it, say yesterday or this morning.
Thanks for stopping by.

Exactly Starlight! If you are lucky enough to have £8k you can pay that in, keep your house and have the taxpayer pay the rest. Outrageous.

I have to say the webchat was very disappointing David, you hardly answered any questions. Gordon did much better.

Oh dear, I'm actually tempted to vote Labour now.

Thanks Slug,

Doesn't it just make you feel like you're not wanted? It does to me!! I feel like a big demon immigrant monster! ANd no one ever wants to engage seriously with this question!

David Cameron

I had my first child at 21 and had a full time job (worked since 17). Had no choice but to go back full time or go on benefits.

Struggled as a lone parent but stayed in job.

Fast forward 16 years and I had 2 children in two years. It was not feasible to return to work as childcare costs were so high so I resigned and became a SAHM.

So after me paying into the system for 23 years we as a family get no tax relief. We are in effect one wage down. Tax credits allieviates this.

Can you give your assurance that tax credits will continue and will the HMRC staff be given better training under a Tory Government?

I agree with colditz. No information at all on what the tax credits thresholds will be, if tax credits will still exist, or indeed even a vague policy on tax credits for two parent households. So, how are we supposed to know what they will do ?

I agree Starlight. My Mum is a widowed pensioner - she does not have £8k sloshing around to protect her home should she have to go into care. Neither do I sadly.

And meanwhile the inheritance tax policy stays.

I think he was good. Read back and see what he was up against.

A big fat laugh at the person who said "I was born Labour" -- as though poltiics was a hereditary disease. It's slighty scary in 2009 that such silly political intransigence exists.

Don't mess with the BBC Mr Cameron

If you do, I will bring my kid over to you at 6AM, and see how you entertain her for an hour with NO ads!

colditz cos the exact numbers depends on the budget at the time they come to power. They can't simply set tax credits on their own without having control over other public spending and taxation and law changes over the next six months. He said they will take tax credits off those earning £50k+ and that single mothers and part time workers won't lose out.

Whether under the Conservatives they are forced to increase taxation and reduce/freeze spending and make everyone worse off depends very much on the economy, but it doesn't seem reasonable to me to ask for exact numbers at this point. Although I guess 'Will you reduce tax credits for families earning less than £50k. Yes/no?' works.

Well at least he answered my post about GB being lucky, rather than saying "Hoho! I'm lucky to be sitting next to Justine Mumsnet!", although he did answer it in true PR-man style.

Re. Retirement... so you need a spare 8k, so you can keep your house, although you will be lying in your own urine and desperately trying to override the switch on your morphine drip - so you actually won't need the house (other than for keeping your owl ornaments in) except to pass on to your children, which you can now without paying tax because - hurrah! - the inheritance tax limit is set to a million pounds - i.e. only "for the rich". (Is it me, or does David Cameron have a slightly odd scale of what it means to be "rich" ????)

Did I get that right?

Did he go without saying goodbye?

How many questions did he answer?

Ouch. And it's not even all the Lefties saying this was a rubbish webchat.

But it was.

I feel a teeny tiny bit sorry for him having technical difficulties. But as any good teacher knows, y'always gotta have some back up slides. Or be hiliariously funny and engaging.

I am more convinced than ever the only way to do this now is to vote for 20 questions ahead of time. But that we insist if they come on, they must answer them. And they're not allowed to see them in advance.

The BBC licence fee is terrible, cut it to shreds.

Hi dave

There are several glaring ommissions. Look for questions from:
dittany, wheelsonthebus, Ladyblahblah, wasabipeanut, nighbynight, mollythetortise and myself amongst others. They all ask basically the same question.

I'd also really like an answer to NickNemo's, ladyGlencorasPalliser's and
shineonyoucrazydiamond's questions.

Not that I'm expecting anything of substance mind you.....

I think that just took the biscuit...

Just checked out the Guardian blog of this and he accused the mn-ers of being drafted in labour activists! Why? Because he doesn't think that mums can ask cogent questions, including ones with numbers in?