Yvette Cooper, live webchat, Tuesday 10 July, 1-2pm

You obviously stood aside for your husband in the last Labour leadership election. Was the deal that he would stand aside for you if it should come up again while you are still in a position to contest it? Will he find that easy?

Like Mamie, I too would like to hear your views on the demonisation of 'baby-boomers' (as if they are an homogenous group) and the repeated suggestion that there is an inter-generational war & those of us born in the post-war period are to blame for current problems we were somehow meant to predict (and presumably should have refused our free University education etc).

Like Golightly I was unable to claim any of my late husband's pension as he died before he became of pensionable age and I already have a full pension in my own right having paid full N.I. contributions all my working life. How can this be fair? My husband paid this money in the anticipation that it would help us in our later years - once again it is a case of those who have tried to live responsibly and make provision for their retirement are punished whilst those who didn't are rewarded.

A second question. How do you think politicians can regain the trust of the people following the expenses scandal. When I talk to my friends they all say that it doesn't matter who you vote for because they are all the same - out to line their own pockets. Would it not be advisable for all politicians to have held down a "proper" job for at least five years before they can be eligible to stand for election. Most politicians (of all parties) seem to go from university to political researcher to MP without having any idea of what it is like to live in the real world

Do you think it is right that a woman over pension age who had paid the married woman's NI contribution, was widowed at the age of 50 and subsequently married a younger man, should lose all right to a percentage of her first husbands state pension?
It is not enough to say you can claim pension credits if you meet the criteria. Who else then benefits from your late husband's full contribution record if not you?
I know Age Concern carries a financial warning to any pensioners thinking of remarrying on their web site.

Hello Yvette
Here on Gransnet we have been getting quite upset about what sometimes feels like the demonisation of the older generation. Baby-boomer seems to have become a term of abuse and it feels as if we are besieged by requests (more like orders really) to move out of our homes, do "National Service as volunteers"(?), take in lodgers, give up allowances etc etc. I don't get the impression that this comes from the population as a whole, but more from a
London-centric group of media people and politicians whose own lives are hardly lived on the breadline. I have no reason to believe that the Labour Party buys into this agenda, but I would be interested to hear your views on why this is happening and what the Labour Party will do to counter it. I wonder what you think these people feel they have to gain by stirring up inter-generational strife?

I know this is trivial, but couldn't you persuade your husband to get a better haircut? I can't take my eyes off it whenever he's on tv.

Have you ever been invited to a country supper?

I'm keen to emphasise the inequalities inherent in the system, when care for elderly parents, with dementia, becomes necessary. My late father needed such care, and now my mum lives in a home specialising in dementia care. Unlike much that I read about, the home is superb...but comes with price tag to match. So we're selling the family home to pay for it....and, Yvette, you know how little a modest house in the North of England will fetch. Basically, I'm having to gamble that mum doesn't outlive the proceeds of the house sale. How awful is that?!
Yet if mum had an illness needing nursing care, as opposed to dementia, then the NHS would help her with the costs.
I'd really like the Labour Party to recognise these inequalities, and introduce compulsory state insurance, to cover possible future care costs. Much fairer. Like all insurance, some of us would 'win' and others would 'lose'.

My late dad, believed that if he did the right thing, worked hard, and saved, then he and his family would be looked after by the state, from the cradle to the grave, and that he'd be the first of our family to pass on savings and a house to his children. How wrong he was.
Can you offer any hope of change in the system?

(And, yes, I'm part of the stretched generation, caring, gladly, for grandchildren too!)

How I agree with those previous gransnetters.
It can be difficult to be " in the middle"
Elderly parents to care for my parents
Both had dementia. We kept them at home
As long as possible with very little help. We
Also had to help with grandchildren when the
Sibling became very ill all when we are getting
Old ourselves. All this with very little help from
The state. It strikes me this can only get worse
As the population lives longer and parents
Both have to work to pay ridiculous mortgages. It's all a
Matter of priorities and this government seems
To have completely the wrong priorities.

I wonder how you foresee the future generations of children growing up without the parental contact that we (or certainly I) used to have when we were children, given that the young parents of today often have to work many more hours to make ends meet?
My daughter and son in law are certainly of that ilk and although my grandson is happy enough I know he is passed from pillar to post between a nanny, one parent then the other. I think that children really need a certain amount of continuity in their lives and attention from parents is vital. Being able to sit and listen to my children read after school was something I made a priority but how many parents get a chance to let alone the time now with working so many hours then having to tackle the endless chores once they are back home?

Yvette, it would be good if you became known as the first female politician (in fact any politician) who could answer a question without being evasive, or telling the interviewer that what the actual question is, is something else you do want to answer. Do politicians really have no idea just how fed up the public is with the constant ducking and diving? Junior Minister Chloe Smith has really highlighted this unacceptable behaviour in the last couple of days. We don't want Jeremy Paxman to have to beat the answer out of you all, just give us honest answers, please? What do you think?