Vince Cable live webchat Tuesday 20 December 1.30-2.30pm

Have you paid back your winter fuel allowance?

What do you make of the suggestions it should be means-tested?

Will you be pushing for the Dilnot report to be implemented?

Or - to put it another way - if you had an elderly parent or a spouse needing care, would you be facing the future confidently?

Do you cook? And what is your favourite cake?

What is the relationship between Dave and Nick really like? There was a time when we thought they'd be sending out joint Christmas cards featuring themselves under the mistletoe. Are they still as loved up?

I was struck by what one MP said yesterday about the delays in putting in place the Vickers reforms to banks - 'Does the Chancellor feel that when Jesus overthrew the money tables, he shd've taken 6 yrs before acting?'

Surely you agree 6 years is too long?

Why is government not going after big business after it's been revealed that tax avoidance costs the economy over £25bn a year? We keep hearing IDS banging on about the £1.4bn lost in benefit fraud, but it seems only UK UNCUT and the occupy movement is making any real noise about the day light robbery and moral decrepitude of the UK's biggest corporations. Does being open for business mean allowing us to get screwed? What do you think about the dinners and love in's between Goldman Sachs and senior HMRC officials? And why is Vodaphone not paying interest on their already vastly reduced tax bill? Its like theres one rule for hard working Briton's and another for corporations. If we're 'all in this together' and the coalition is really concerned with deficit reduction then this really needs to be addressed

Why does is Sir Fred Godwin still Sir Fred? If you are really serious about reforming the closed shop that runs Britain shouldn't you start by expelling some of its worst members?

Nick Clegg said yesterday that inequalities in wealth are greater than inequalities in income. Shouldn't people who sell their houses to fund elder care be excluded from paying a Mansion Tax?

I worry about how my grown up children are going to afford to have a family and lay foundations for the future. Am I right to be worried? How will Britain earn its living in future?

How many Tory MPs are you really sending Christmas cards to?

I've popped over from Mumsnet.

Vince, do you think the NMW is a reasonable living wage, and if it was raised, don't you think benefits would still be a viable lifestyle choice?

This raise could be funded by ensuring that executive salaries were kept reasonable, with wealth spread around more evenly throughout organisations.

I would start with Council Executives and Social Workers having their pay evened out somewhat.

Nick Clegg has been talking about a 'mansion tax'. Where do you see the threshold being drawn? I'm concerned about this as we are living in an area with lunatic house prices. We moved here before the housing boom, and I am very concerned that we may be taxed on account of the house price rises - we can't afford to move, because of stamp duty, and our house is a very ordinary semi, but is valued at 500k, because of the area we live in.

We are stretched to the limit already, and are about to lose 10% of our income because of the child benefit cut (despite being on the 30th centile of the IFS chart of standard of living). We can't afford to pay any more taxes because our house has increased in value. So what value house do you see as being a 'mansion'?

Vince, am very interested to read your response re the Vickers reforms, but they've been covered by others.

So am asking about other important topics

Who did you want to win this year's Strictly final? And which politician would you like to see in the next Strictly?

Thank you and Happy Christmas

Whats your favourite Christmas song, and what will you be doing this Xmas?

I presume as a member of the cabinet that you don't really suffer from ageism, but do you sometimes look around your colleagues in parliament and think that some highly competent people are passed over because of an obsession with youth?

I'd like to add to onthefences's question - given that pretty much everyone in power right now benefited from having free tertiary level education, how can they support following generations having to enter adult life in debt for receiving the same benefit they enjoyed for free?

Wouldn't it make sense to reduce the number of spurious non-degrees and instead spend public money educating future generations on courses that will actually make the UK a competitive nation on a global scale in the future. That way they should be able to afford to dismantle tuition fees. If, on the other hand, a student really wants to spend three years doing media studies that will never get them a job in the media, they're more than welcome to do that if they can pay for it themselves.

How come you have a holier than thou image when you used to be one of the head honchos at Shell?

Hi Vince,

lots of good questions have been asked!

But mine is:

What would the Tories have to do for you to resign?

Not really a question, just a further point on the university funding. There were 2 things you could have done that would have been much much fairer.

Either, make it a graduate contribution, similar to now, but instead of being an 'amount owing' make it a % of income over a fixed level, for a fixed number of years. That would really be progressive, and would avoid this situation of middle income people having to pay back more than the wealthy.

Or, make the loans interest free. So, a graduate can contribute more, but it doesn't grow and grow in the way it is going to - for some income groups they will be paying back far more than the 27k of fees borrowed, because of the interest. This would mean the wealthy paid back quicker, the poorer didn't pay so much, but you would avoid the trap of being a middle income worker who has to pay back 50k worth or so, because of the interest.

Neither of those things are rocket science, but would make the thing so much fairer than the proposed system. I also take massive issue with the fact that although it was peddled as 'contributions based on future income', students will receive bursaries because of their parents' income, irrespective of what they may end up earning, and so if you happen to come from a slightly better off family, you will be subsidising someone who may be earning far more than you are.

And one quick question on child benefit changes/welfare caps.

The proposed welfare cap is 26k. LibDems have been arguing that CB should be exempt. 26k is equivalent to a salary of about 35k. Put the CB on top, and with 4 children you are up to 38k. How can you say that someone receiving this much on benefits is 'low income', when someone on only a little bit more, but working, is deemed 'too wealthy' to receive child benefit? (and especially when the family next door on double the household income keeps it?). I am SO SO angry about this.

Child benefit should be a child tax allowance, in recognition that if you have children, your salary has to go much much further. Below a certain threshold, it could remain as a benefit, but above that, it should be an allowance, and you should stop this fallacy of claiming you are 'paying a benefit'. Just let us keep a little bit more of the money we earn to pay for our children.

(Just for clarification - with a cap of 26k on benefits, and 4 children, you are equivalent to receiving a salary of about £38k. £42k is the threshold for HRT, and the level at which you lose child benefit.)

What do you think of Ed Miliband as a leader? Is he helping or hurting the coalition? Do you think David Miliband would have proved a more formidable leader of the opposition?

In the current recession so much is made of young people who can't get work. But what about older people who lose their jobs and have no chance of finding anything again? Ageism is rife and experience seems to count for nothing. Pensions are up the spout - please give me a glimmer of hope to cling to before I stuff myself inside my Christmas turkey

Do you know that war widows whose husbands were killed after 2005 pay tax on their Survivor's Guaranteed Income Payment (SGIP), whilst those widowed before that date do not?
Do you that think this is an equitable and reasonable way to recompense the families of service personnel killed on active service??

Hi Vince,

What do you think about Cameron's veto of the financial treaty in Europe? There's been lots of discussion on gransnet about it - some saying he was grandstanding and others saying he had to do it.

Do you think he did the right thing or was he just trying to curry favour?

MNHQ, please can you ensure Mr Cable reads (and hopefully answers) the questions posted prior to the webchat.

Are you scandalised that HMRC did sweetheart deals with Vodafone and Goldman Sachs over their tax payments and that this only came to light through a whistleblower and Private Eye?

Is this right at a time of austerity? In what sense are we all in it together? And will HMRC be reformed so that this doesn't happen again?