I was looking forward to this event as it echoes something which we did in college in the mid-sixties when I was doing my A Level Law. We looked at the way in which we lived our lives and were then told how many laws we had broken, accidentally, obviously. I thought it interesting to see the changes due to the way in which life has changed over the past 55 years.
The event, part of Leeds International Festival of Idea, was billed as a fireside chat between Rob Rinder and Charlotte (Lotty) Leeming. I know the latter from her presenting Look North but the former was a stranger to me, except for the trailers of his television programmes and his apparent appearances on Strictly Come Dancing, not part of my Saturday night viewing. I think my avoidance of Mr Rinder stems from my appearances in court, for work purposes, and no, I was not a career criminal, where I came before a famous judge on many occasions. He was terminally stage-struck and seemed to be on every panel game and light entertainment show which would have him, fortunately his legal opinions were more valid than those of his own charisma. I tended, from then on, to avoid those who use their position in one career to springboard them into a life of ‘entertainment’. Judge Judy and Doctor Phil, being two more examples so Mr Rinder seemed to me to fall into that category.
After witnessing his fireside chat I feel as though I need to reassess my totally unfounded conclusion regarding the man and take a look at what he has to say in his legal-based programmes at least, as he seemed to be someone who is totally committed to the law, its implementation and the philosophy behind it.
He said that on the train he analysed his day’s activities and worked out that he must have been subjected to obeying over a thousand laws, whether those made by Parliament, the various local authorities through whose jurisdiction he passed, the railway companies and precedents. He was at pains to stress that he didn’t break any of them, at least the ones he knew about!
Charlotte Leeming with Rob Rinder
Mr Rinder is a very eloquent speaker, as you would expect, being a top barrister, so it would take longer than the event for me to recall and relate all of the ideas and viewpoints expressed, suffice it to say that every one of them, whether part of the original presentation or in response to questions from the floor, was clearly and incisively formulated.
I recall that one of the laws which we discussed in the sixties was that of vagrancy and that you needed to be in possession of an amount of money so as not to fall foul of it. I think it was sixpence, but nowadays, especially since Covid and the introduction of cashless shops, I often find myself with no readies. I assume that credit cards and ApplePay, neither of which were available back then, would suffice as proof now. We were also warned that asking your mate for a shilling to put in the juke box at the coffee bar amounted to begging and could get you arrested under the same law.
One way in which the law is a minefield nowadays is in the field of technology where the legal system doesn’t appear to have kept pace. One particularly pertinent question from the floor was regarding images from smart door bells. Who has copyright and can they be posted on-line? The answer was, it depends on the terms and conditions of the contract with the bell supplier and no, do not make the images public. The repercussions could be far-reaching in many ways.
I enjoyed this event immensely, it fulfilled all the criteria of the ethos of Leeds International Festival of Ideas, and then some. My only niggle was Ms Leeming’s interruptions when the speaker was in full flow. The irony being that, on one occasion, they had just been discussing Mr Rinder’s morning television role when he stressed that the secret to a good interview was to listen to the speaker without jumping in!
To see the remaining events at Leeds International Festival of Ideas, and how to book, please go to https://leedsinternationalfestival.com/ They are all being held at Leeds Playhouse https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on/
Leeds International Festival of Ideas 2023 is brought to you by Leeds BID
Feature image provided by Chapter81, Photograph by Stan Graham.
Tyke It To The Limit 