UPDATE: Interview with Labour candidate...

Interview with Darren Jones, Labour candidate for Torridge and West Devon in the 2010 general election.

IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:“I was very pleased to see that Mr Cameron wasn’t very good”/ “There are a lot of Labour voters in this constituency”/ “I’m confident we’ll have a fourth term Labour Government”/ “I like Europe. I’ve only recently become a fan of Europe and I used to be quite Eurosceptic”/ “I was firmly against the war in Iraq”/ “Labour Party has done a great deal through Defra”/ “There’s a fine line between the views of these people and the parallels between the rise of Nazi Germany”

Question: Can you tell me why and how you became involved in politics?

I was at university in Plymouth and had been a Labour Party member for a few years. I started Plymouth Labour Students and was its president and worked with the national organisation. One thing led to another and I was offered the seat.

Question: You’re from Plymouth. People might pick up that you’re not that local?

It’s quite hard to be local in Torridge because it’s so huge. Plymouth is close to Tavistock and people in that area would say it’s local.

Question: Would you describe yourself as a socialist?

I would describe myself as a democratic socialist in the sense I’m member of the New Labour generation. I recognise being a far-left winger doesn’t work across the country.Tony Blair and the third way was an example of how we need to work together, to support business, need to have a strong economy and a strong market, and be able to bring money to allow growth.

At the same time we need to be compassionate. We need a welfare system that protects those that need support.

Question: Did you see the leaders’ debate last night? (First TV debate)

Yes, I thought it was going to be awfully dull but it was quite interesting. There was some good debate going on.I was also pleased Gordon did so well.

Nick Clegg was always going to do well because he’s very good at these sort of things.I was very pleased to see that Mr Cameron wasn’t very good, and he squirmed when he was being pushed on his policies.

Question: Why would anyone vote for a candidate who has no realistic chance of winning the seat?

Anything’s a possibility and what I’ve been saying to people is that Labour may not have had the same history as the other parties in this constituency but the message and values and policies we are putting forward is relevant regardless of where you live.

There are a lot of Labour voters in this constituency, it’s just that before they have voted tactically because we’ve not had much of a presence.

People laugh when I say this but I’m confident we’ll have a fourth term Labour Government and people will have more influence if they have a representative that is of the party of Government.

Question: The tactical voting question. If you are a Labour supporter in Torridge and West Devon the surest way to help keep the Conservatives out of power is to vote Lib Dem, isn’t it?

That is the traditional strategy and it is correct.I don’t want to go about telling people how to vote. I’m here because I believe I provide a viable option.

In the country it’s a choice between Labour and the Conservatives and I think the main aim is to make sure we don’t have a Conservative Government.

Question: You are making your arguments as public perception of MPs is at an all-time low. Electors will say: you’re all a bunch of crooks. What can you and your party do to help with that perception?

I think MPs need to remember they are the representatives of their constituencies.There are MPs who feel they have to have a constituency presence almost as an annex to their role in Westminster but it’s about representing local people and their communities.

As long as we keep that at the core of what you’re doing you can build trust.It’s been awful what’s happened in parliament over the last couple of years and I’m part of a cohort of people who have been disillusioned by this and ashamed by this.

People in my own party have pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable and we won’t let that happen.

Question: The parties are making a lot of claims which might be seen to be vacuous: things like arguing for “less waste”, “more fairness” and “change”. Do people not switch off from that because you can’t argue the opposite can you? You can’t argue for “more unfairness”?
The difficulty we have is on the one hand we have the Conservatives who are using these vacuous claims such as “vote for change” and you ask them what is the change and they can’t tell you.

We’ve got really detailed conversation over tax policy, all these numbers are being used.What we need to try and do as politicians is find the middle ground, where we can talk about our values and what drives us but also talk about the policy decisions we are making and why without it going into the fine detail that people don’t want to concern themselves with.

They want to know what their money is being spent on.

They want to know that the deficit is going to be cut.They want to know their schoolteachers are still going to be there to teach their children.

We are saying in the Labour Party we are going to make £35billion of savings in the next financial year in order to put money to paying off the deficit within four years.We’ve said where the money will come from, for example from the National Insurance rise, and we’ve said where we’re going to spend money.

Both the Liberals and the Conservatives have uncosted proposals.

Question: There is this endless to-ing and fro-ing about cuts and efficiencies. There is almost an auction going on for who can make the most breathtaking savings. This is something that is always claimed at elections but it never seems to materialise. Why will it this time?

I don’t know if I agree with that. I do know that we are in a very special situation this time. We’ve got an awfully large structural deficit to pay off.

I think it was right to take on that debt in order to keep our economy afloat. Now we have to be responsible and start paying it off.

You can’t say you are going to make savings and not do it.The Labour Party message is we will be responsible with the economy, we will pay off the deficit.

I’m confident that where we have said we will make efficiencies, we will do that.With Gordon Brown at the helm, his priority is we pay off that deficit and get our economy back on track.

Question: What role do you think the state has in reducing poverty and inequality?

This is an important, fundamental question.The Conservatives want to allow community groups and the third sector to do the work.

I partly agree with that; we should have communities working to support themselves.We should be supporting the third sector and we have done over the last 13 years.

The trouble is in areas where you have efficient charities set up and people with the skills and time to contribute, that’s fine.

In the places where you don’t, it will just go and the people relying on these services won’t have them.

I don’t think we want to go back to that approach that happened before 1997 where in some areas you might have had to wait two years for a hip replacement.I’m not advocating central targets for everything and I don’t think that’s the best way to go in local planning...

Question: That’s against your party’s policy then?

It is. I understand why they’re doing it but I think they should take more time in allowing local communities to say: this area isn’t right.

The state is very important in reducing poverty and inequality and we have a very strong track record of that over the last 13 years.

In education, by driving standards as opposed to changing structures, which was the case in the previous Government, we can bring a standard across the country which is fair for the most.

Without the state you are going to end up with inequalities.

Question: The inequality gap has got bigger under Labour, which some people find quite shocking...

Yes. The poorest people in this country have become wealthier through things like tax credits.

We do have this inequality gap which is a problem. It’s about finding that balance because what we don’t want to do is inhibit investors.

We don’t want to inhibit people who are earning significantly large amounts to go somewhere else because we would like their tax.

At the same time we need to make sure the people on the lowest salaries are getting a fair deal.

We’ve increased the income tax band on the highest salaries, which was right to do, but it was a break in manifesto, which is uncomfortable.

If you elect a Conservative Government, who have already shown they want to save tax increases on businesses at the risk of tax increases on people. They want to give £200,000 tax break to the 3,000 richest people with their inheritance tax policy.

Question: Affordable housing is a massive problem in your constituency. There is a massive gap between incomes and house prices and that has been buoyed up by the bubble. How can you and your policies help people to get affordable homes to buy or rent?

We have increasing numbers of people and the cost of housing has increased over the past few decades.We have said new affordable housing has to be built, with the emphasis on affordable.

In rural communities there are young people, young families who are having to leave where they live.

The Government has said we need more affordable housing and said “here’s the money, these are the numbers, build more affordable housing” but we need to get the balance right where local communities are able to sort that our for themselves, with the support of the state.

It’s no good us saying you’re going to need to build 10,000 houses in location X. We need local people to come to the conclusion of where they should be built.

Question: There are areas where the local authority is saying we need homes, here or here, and its causing massive opposition; I know as a journalist that any house-building always does in this area. If you’re saying the local communities need to have a key say, frankly, in my view, they will always say no. So, how do you get around it?
It’s difficult when you’re living in a countryside location where you’ve got beautiful views and Dartmoor further down. It’s the same issue with wind turbines.

There is huge opposition because people don’t want their landscape to change.It’s about saying to people: this is the issue and we need to be able to solve it and frankly, unless we can come to a solution, it’s going to have be imposed.

But you don’t want to start giving those ultimatums too early.I’m confident, from the people I’ve spoken to that they know there’s an issue, and they do need to get together to find a solution.

Question: Another tension that politicians are reluctant to address, because it will lose them votes, is a lot of people whose house prices have increased in value, that increase is one of the main reasons why so many younger people are excluded from owning a home, but no politician is going to say to those people: look you can’t continue having these house price rises and they might even have to come down.
It’s embedded now over a number of decades that we have market-driven values in the housing sector. It’s the rise in housing prices which has caused the problem but how do we solve that?

If the Labour Party were to say we’re going to start controlling house prices, we would never get elected. It’s too left wing a way of dealing with it.

We need to put solutions in which balances the needs of the market system we have with the provision we need for people we need most.We are doing that by setting quotas of affordable housing.

Question: Europe seems to be a subject that a lot of electors seem concerned about in this constituency. UKIP say withdraw now and the Conservative candidates are Eurosceptic. What’s your take on the Europe debate?
I like Europe. I’ve only recently become a fan of Europe and I used to be quite Eurosceptic.As cheesy as it might sound I love Britain and how it is, and parliament, and its values.

I always feared that by becoming more European we would lost all that but you have to look at these things on a larger scale.

You look at America, China, Russia, India. Huge economies, huge populations, will be deciding on how we run the world.Britain has a good, modern history of having the right values and the right approach to having influence around the world and I think we need to keep that.

But as a country we won’t be able to in the country because we’re too small.We’re awfully lucky to have a seat on the UN security council and at the G8.

We do need to work with Europe and we want Britain to be at the heart of Europe, driving it and I think that’s where I stand.

Question: There’s a lot of ill feeling from farmers against the Labour Government (on bovine TB, the Rural Payments Agency, Europe). How would you address that?
It’s difficult. On some of those points I agree with Geoffrey Cox; there is more to do.I would argue the Labour Party has done a great deal through Defra for our rural communities but I can recognise that much more needs to be done.

When people are seeing all the money that has gone into cities they might think the Government does care about their rural communities but it does. It’s about getting the balance across the country.

Question: The Rural Payments Agency has been a fiasco, hasn’t it?

It has and it’s been recognised it’s not worked as well as hoped.People expect a lot of Government and so they should. You can’t always get things right. You take the consultations, you take the advice, you instigate these policies and you try them.

If they don’t work you have to put your hand up and say sorry, we now need to look at reform.It’s Labour commitment to look at reforming the commons fisheries policy.

Question: We’ve had the extremely controversial war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. Can I ask for your views?

I was firmly against the war in Iraq. I can partly see Blair’s argument on how it may be good for the region in the long run but we won’t know if that’s true or not yet.My biggest concern with the war in Iraq was that so many people were clearly against it and it still went ahead.

On these big issues it’s important to show you are listening to your constituents across the country. The problem was largely the lack of planning after the invasion.

The invasion was quite efficient, as far as wars go, but then once Saddam Hussein had been toppled, the redevelopment wasn’t planned efficiently and that stays in people’s minds.

Afghanistan, we were right to go in. The Taliban needed dealing with and there was a UN resolution and international agreement.

The trouble we have now is we’re still there.Afghanistan is one of those countries through history where it’s difficult to be able to come to a conclusion.I think we’ve got a duty to support them because we’ve gone in and removed the Taliban.We also need to recognise it’s our people out there as well, dying out there.

Question: You’ve picked up on the historical viewpoint and lack of planning. A lot of people have said that anybody with even a basic understanding of Afghanistan, which you would hope the Government would have, shows the invaders, or external agents, have never been able to be successful there.

It’s a shame that certain things have happened.We need to learn from the mistakes we may have made with an aim to know we are going to have to pull out at some point.

Question: A lot of people say climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity. And what about these people who say “it’s a conspiracy, it’s a con”?

I think that’s nonsense. The science is proven. It’s important we deal with it, because we caused it.We can only deal with these global issues by global co-operation.

If we want to lead the way we need to be part of Europe.This Government has shown huge commitment to tackling climate change; there’s Ed Milliband and his department. There has been the various legislation, carbon trading, limits of carbon emissions.

One of the linked problems are renewables and how we deal with that.

I take quite a harsh line on people that deny climate change and people that say that we carry on, we’re fine.

Question: You always get disillusionment with parties who have been in power for a number of years. They are disillusioned with the Tony Blair era, with the spinning, the two contentious wars in the middle east, an economic catastrophe and Gordon Brown who’s not often seen as a charismatic or winning leader. How do you respond to all those problems you’re facing?

I think Gordon came across really well in the leaders’ debate. TV is not his natural territory.The nearest thing we have now to the Blair style and the Blair machine is David Cameron.

He’s fashioned himself on the Blair rise in 1997, although he’s a diet version of it, not quite as good as the full fat Tony Blair.I’m an example of how the Labour Party is very good at bringing young people into politics in order to renew and refresh themselves.

Question: It’s the first time we’ve ever had BNP candidates here. What do you think about that?

I think it’s a shame and quite scary.I was a hustings in Tavistock and thankfully the BNP candidate didn’t come because we have a “no platform” policy when the BNP are there. There were members in the audience and the things they were saying was shocking.

There’s a fine line between the views of these people and the parallels between the rise of Nazi Germany and I don’t want to sound melodramatic, but it’s true.

Britain has a proud tradition of being welcoming to diverse populations.

Question: It is this question of the white working class, isn’t it? The BNP, and maybe some in Labour, will say Labour has neglected the white working class by seeking this middle ground, the middle-class swing voters who can win elections. How can you reassure white working class voters that the BNP are not the way to go?

I don’t think neglect is the right word.Being a member of the BNP, they’re never going to be in power, I hope never, and very unlikely to get MPs elected. You look at the choice that’s available and it’s the Labour Party.

Question: How would electing you improve the lives of people in Torridge and West Devon?

People that have met me would agree that I’m awfully energetic but my approach when it comes to the candidacy is about listening to people and making a jolly good effort to make sure you do that properly.