Monday: arguing before the Court of Appeal

Regular readers of this blog will have picked up by now that as well as being Labour's Parliamentary candidate for the Hexham constituency, I am also a practising barrister as well as a not-quite-100% practising dad! On Monday, I was down in London arguing my first case before the Court of Appeal. The issue was a technical one concerning English land law, but it was an interesting and surprisingly enjoyable experience putting my client's case to three of the most senior judges in the land. In the end, the judges were all extremely pleasant, sharp in questioning but always fair and polite. I can't tell you whether I won or lost because they reserved judgment, but whatever the outcome is, I'm glad to have done it.

As everyone knows, there's always been a large number of barristers involved in politics - including one M. Thatcher and one T. Blair. What's interesting is how the two professions have evolved in tandem over the years. In the nineteenth century, advocates in politics and in law tended to be members of the 'declaratory' school of persuasion, ie, you got up, made a speech of varying long-windedness with relatively few interruptions, then sat down. Now in both spheres, communication with the intended audience has become less of a monologue and much more of a dialogue. By virtue of email, websites and blogs, politicians are never more than a few seconds away, and it's easy to strike up a conversation.

I think access to politicans is a good thing, which is why I've set out to be as easy to reach as possible - to the right you can find my real home address, my real mobile phone number and one of my real email addresses. It's interesting to note that the Tory candidate in Hexham isn't willing to provide on his blog a contact phone number, or a home address, or anything other than an email address specific to this election. I wonder why he's hiding from everyone? I suspect he owns a place in London but only rents up here. Perhaps he could let us know?

Tory candidate's past outing in Wales

A prize for anyone who can explain the significance of coming from "a long line of Llewelyns" - a boast I haven't seen repeated on any of his leaflets in this constituency ...

School governors meeting

Evening, Wednesday 24th March: a School Governors meeting at Longbenton Community College where I have been a community governor for nearly 5 years. We had an interesting presentation from the school's Head of Science, who rightly condemned the pseudo-science and nonsense peddled by so many A, B and C list celebrities these days. Best of all was a quote from Heather Mills-McCartney, who after some nonsense statement said "and that's a fact!". If Heather Mills-McCartney says something is a fact, it very likely isn't ...

Haydon Bridge High School debate

Lunchtime, Wednesday 24 March: Haydon Bridge High School held a debate to which all Hexham's declared Parliamentary candidates were invited. I was there for Labour, the Lib Dem candidate made it, and so too did the Independent candidate. Hexham's Tory candidate said he had a prior engagement and didn't attend, which is unfortunate since young people have as much right to know our views and opinions as any other group living in the constituency.

The debate was lively: I made clear my disappointment with the recent revelations about ex-cabinet ministers touting for business, and I had a good ding-dong with the LibDem candidate about precisely what their policy now is on tuition fees (it changes week by week). I hope the audience found the debate entertaining and illuminating, and will be some help in deciding which way to vote for those old enough.

Is a 'Tobin tax' right for the UK?

As a Parliamentary candidate, I routinely receive emails asking me to sign up to various things or state where I stand on a particular issue. One which I recently received stated as follows:

"Dear Mr Darling,

Like many of the tens of thousands of supporters of the Robin Hood Tax I will be looking closely at your budget. I hope you are not planning any measures that would mean people like me will again have to bear the brunt of paying down the deficit.

I strongly believe a tiny tax on major financial transactions is the fairest way to address the economic challenges we face. You could start on March 24th by putting a small tax on sterling currency transactions. This would hit multi-million pound trades by banks, not people's holiday money. It could raise at least £3 billion every year to deal with the budget deficit, and provide extra money to address poverty and climate change. The UK's leadership would also pave the way for other Robin Hood taxes at a global level.

Last year we all bailed out the banks and for many of them the worst has passed. But for people in the UK and around the world, the financial crisis is far from over. It's time for those who caused the crisis to take greater responsibility in putting our public finances right. I hope your budget will reflect this and that you will introduce the first Robin Hood Tax, on sterling.

A copy of this message has also been sent to the prospective parliamentary candidates in my constituency."

The reply I sent read as follows:

"Dear [ ]:

Thanks for your timely email. In principle I support the idea of a 'Tobin tax' provided it is done on a multilateral basis. I don't support a Tobin tax done on a unilateral basis in the UK for two reasons (1) it will raise little revenue as most of the transactions to which the tax would apply will simply move outside the UK (2) although it's possible that the UK taking a 'leadership' role on this issue might encourage others to follow, it is equally possible and in my view more likely that many other states will use it to encourage financial institutions to do business outside the UK.

For example, when the 50% tax rate for top earners was announced in the UK, various arms of the French state began ringing City of London based financial institutions encouraging them to move to Paris where the tax would not apply, an outcome clearly not in our national interest. That is why in my view, for a Tobin tax to work properly in a way which does not do damage to "Great Britain plc", it needs to be done on a multilateral basis.

Thanks again for getting in touch."

I'd be interested to know what readers of this blog think about a global tax on currency transactions - please let me know.

Pause before the storm

I have no more clue than anyone else when the general election will be, but I assume it will be 6th May. Once the 'short campaign' begins (ie, once the general election is officially called), I will be taking a month off work to campaign full-time. As part of the quid pro quo struck with my wife, who isn't delighted at me being absent from household chores for a month, we went out as a family this afternoon to see three Disney performances at the Newcastle Arena, which was full of tots dressed like princesses, quite a sight to behold! Both my kids loved it, but I was struck by how expensive all the Disney paraphernalia is.

Save the free bus pass for the over 60s!

Today I had the real pleasure of meeting Joe West, who lives in Stockton. Joe has achieved a measure of local fame by travelling all over the North East, and the Lake District for that matter, on his free bus pass with a friend of his. He is a marvellous advert for a curious mind, boundless energy and taking full advantage of the opportunities in front of our nose. Thankfully he is a Labour supporter, and told me he is happy for me to publicise his love-affair with the free bus pass in my blog. Good on you, Joe!

Regional conference

Saturday: I attended Labour's regional conference at the Quayside Exchange, Sunderland where the fire in our bellies was stoked by powerful speeches from Ed Miliband, David Miliband, Nick Brown, Harriet Harman and John Prescott. As the polls continue to narrow and people wonder more and more what the heck the Tories actually stand for, we are really starting to believe that a historic 4th term is within our grasp.

Regional awards dinner

Friday night: I attended a Labour get-together at the Quayside Exchange, Sunderland with my wife where we heard from Nick Brown MP and Harriet Harman MP before an awards ceremony for North East party activists.

Politics, puppets and me

Sunday 28th February: this weekend I headed over to Manchester to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of a good friend of mine, Kiron Reid, a former Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for Bootle/Liverpool Walton and former Anfield councillor (who says there's no place for friendship in politics?). On Sunday I headed over to the People's History Museum which gives an unashamedly populist view of recent British political history. The puppets shown above were part of the exhibition.

Who delivered the Haydon Bridge by-pass?

Saturday 27th February: out and about in Haydon Bridge talking to local residents. I have yet to meet one person, Haydon Bridge resident or otherwise, who is critical of the Haydon Bridge by-pass, delivered courtesy of this Labour government. The improvement in local residents' quality of life, especially those on Greenwich Gardens living opposite what used to be the A69, is simply huge.