Interviews

April 2010

Stoke Newington People, by Rosie Watts, Tuesday; and Dalston People, by A Battisby – both 20 April 2010

Conservative Darren Caplan explains all in our Q&A (see http://www.stokenewingtonpeople.co.uk/news/Conservative-Darren-Caplan-explains-Q/article-2045587-detail/article.html)

What made you decide to run as a prospective parliamentary candidate?

I have been interested in politics since I was a teenager, and have always considered Westminster the most important arena for political opponents to fight for their beliefs, in what is still to my mind the world’s best pluralist liberal democracy.

An MP has two main roles: to fight for his or her vision of Britain and conception of the balance between the role of the individual and the state; and to represent the views of constituents in Parliament. I remain of the view that, despite the recent expenses scandal, being an MP is still the highest calling for those who believe in British politics.

Finally, I believe fundamentally in smaller government, less state interference and freer, more independent citizens. It is to fight for these beliefs that ultimately made me decide to run as a prospective parliamentary candidate.

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Why should people vote for you?

Many politicians promise the earth and then fail to deliver. Although philosophically I believe in less government and more individual freedom, that doesn’t mean government cannot do good things – it just needs to do less and be more targeted in what it does.

As the MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington, I would focus on the three areas which I believe are currently priorities here – and I would ask the electorate to judge me on progress against these priorities:

1) helping small and medium sized businesses create more jobs, by reducing business taxes and giving job seekers a better chance of getting that next job, through training, apprenticeships and more university places;

2) helping develop better schools, so that at the least every child can leave primary school with the ability to read, write and do basic maths; and

3) cutting knife and gun crime, which is tragically and needlessly costing innocent lives.

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What is your one biggest concern about Hackney?

Knife and gun crime. It is absolutely heart-breaking to see young men, woman and children losing their lives on the streets of Hackney, who have committed no offence other than to simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The increase in gangland violence is a threat to everyone – and every parent is now worried their child will get caught up in a shooting or knife incident.

Firstly, I would assure Hackney & Stoke Newington voters that I would not play politics with this issue. All the parliamentary candidates in this election would, I know, work assiduously with police, colleges, schools, young people’s organisations, third sector and other agencies to try to put an end to the madness.

Secondly, the Conservative do have distinct policies on this area which I believe would make a difference. We would seek to reduce police paperwork so they can concentrate on policing and not bureaucracy. We will strengthen ‘stop and search powers’ to make it easier for the police to get weapons off the streets and make it clear that anyone caught carrying a knife or a gun can expect to be prosecuted and face a prison sentence. We would improve rehabilitation – for example, with dedicated Prison & Rehabilitation Trusts – to break the link between those who get involved in crime staying in crime. And we would introduce a National Citizen Service, funding the rollout of a programme to bring 16-year olds from different backgrounds together to carry out community activities and, hopefully, make it less likely that they would joing violent gangs.

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What is the first thing you would do for Hackney?

In Hackney North & Stoke Newington, primary schools have for seven years in a row come bottom in the independent Standard Assessment Test lists for reading, writing and maths (SAT league tables, Department for Children, Schools and Families, August 2009), with more than half of 11-year-olds failing the tests. Although there are, of course, good schools in Hackney, parents and teachers know urgent action is needed to deal with the problems in the very worst schools.

So the first thing I would do for Hackney would be to commit to a new generation of local independent, non-selective state schools funded by taxpayers but run by teachers and responsible to parents. These schools will be smaller, with smaller classes, and head teachers will be given the freedom to innovate, choose and shape their own curriculum and be given the freedom to exclude disruptive pupils and set their own discipline policies.

I would support a process to replace the leadership of any school that has been in Ofsted ‘special measures’ for over a year by the end of the next school year, and the reopening of these schools as Academies by September 2011. Thereafter, all schools that stay in special measures for a year would be replaced with Academies.

Finally, I would support the move to a national per pupil funding system, so that new schools get paid if they attract pupils, with extra funding for the poorest pupils (a ‘pupil premium’).

No-one is saying that there’s an easy solution, but carrying on as present is simply not an option. Hackney’s parents and pupils deserve better – and I would argue that only the Conservatives have the new, radical ideas on local schooling to make the changes required.

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What is your favourite thing about Hackney?

It really is diverse, vibrant and full of opportunity, but I believe it’s being held back by a tired Labour government. I would like to be part of a new generation of local politicians, with new ideas to make Hackney even better for those who live, work and have fun here!

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March 2010

Darren Caplan was interviewed by Olivia Alabaster, Hackney Post

Tory hopes to oust Diane Abbott at next election (see http://hackneypost.co.uk/?p=2720)

Diane Abbott has represented Hackney North and Stoke Newington for 23 years. Now, Conservative candidate Darren Caplan thinks it’s time for a change.

“People have a clear choice between Diane Abbott, who has had the same policies for the last 22 years, and the chance of something new.”

Caplan was elected last March to take on Abbott at constituency level, and he is now eager for the election date to be announced. He says: “We’re expecting it to be called at the end of this month, or the beginning of April. I just want campaigning to start properly now.”

Currently working in public relations, Caplan, 37, now faces a difficult challenge in winning the Hackney North seat – Abbott was the first black woman member of parliament in Britain, and she is still one of Labour’s most charismatic members.

Local constituents have never elected a Tory MP. At the last general election, Abbott won over 10,000 more votes than her Conservative rival.

But Caplan thinks his policies are what Hackney needs to move forward. “My basic line is that Hackney is a great place and it could be even better.”

Not just a crowd pleaser

Caplan is adamant, however, not to simply appease local residents. He says: “I think parliamentary candidates should stand up for what they believe in…You shouldn’t just tell people what they want to hear.”

For Caplan, the main areas which need attention in Hackney are education, employment and crime.

While the borough’s high schools have been consistently high-achieving in recent years, the local primary schools are often at the bottom of national league tables.

To combat this, if elected, Caplan would promote old-fashioned values in schools: “It’s all about making sure pupils are disciplined and have a clear understanding of the head teachers’ authority.”

He also supports the idea of ‘Free Schools,’ an idea adopted by the Tories which is based on the Swedish system whereby power to run schools is taken from the State and given to the local community.

“They would be state-funded but would be organised by parents and local businesses.” Caplan believes the success of these new schools would help to inspire higher standards in neighbouring schools.

With high unemployment rates – there are 92 job applicants for every new job in Hackney, compared to the national average of ten applicants – Caplan believes the Conservative policy of cutting corporation tax for businesses, and cutting National Insurance contributions for start-ups in their first two years, would lead to more job opportunities for Hackney residents.

On crime, Caplan is characteristically conservative. “I think you do need more bobbies on the beat.” But he claims not to be party political when it comes to crime and says, “everyone is trying to do their best.”

The problem of gangs in Hackney must also be tackled through wider community involvement, Caplan claims, with community groups, police and schools and local councillors working together.

Caplan is also concerned about the lifecycle of crime: “We need better rehabilitation policies. A lot of people who are get involved in crime stay in crime. You have to break the link.”

He suggests a scheme whereby ex-offenders, now rehabilitated, partner up with those currently involved in crime – “Once they have served their punishment they have to be given support once they get out.”

Caplan seems passionate about parliamentary politics – “If all you’re doing as a constituency candidate is saying that you can do a better job than the councillors then that’s not enough,” – but whether or not he has the charisma and popular local standing to make up the 32% swing remains to be seen.

Darren’s perfect day in Hackney:

“I’d probably spend the morning walking around Stoke Newington and go to the farmers’ market there. In the afternoon I’d go to Lea Valley Canoe club, it’s really lovely there with all the parks. And in the evening I’d go to Stamford Hill and get a smoked salmon bagel.”

Describe Hackney in five words:

Diverse, vibrant, full of opportunity.

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February 2010

Darren Caplan was interviewed by winkball.com

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February 2010

Darren Caplan was interviewed by Olivia Alabaster, student journalist at London City University

The first question Darren Caplan was asked by a journalist when he was selected to take on Diane Abbott was whether or not, being white, he had any chance of winning the seat.

Now, three months before the general election the Conservative candidate seems pretty confident with an answer he’s clearly had a chance to refine: “My policies are totally colour-blind. I’ve got no policies which are special for different parts of the community.

“And yes I think I can win in Hackney regardless of skin colour.”

But in one of the most diverse constituencies in the country – Hackney North and Stoke Newington – which has been represented by the charismatic Abbott since 1987, and which has never had a Tory MP, what likelihood does Caplan have of winning this seat?

Caplan, 37, is the image of David Cameron’s Conservatives – smart suit, but no tie; forward-thinking and youthful (he runs a Sunday morning football club, including players  from across London) but at the same time traditional – he has watched Crystal Palace from the same position for the last thirty years.

Married to Conservative commentator, Jo-Anne Nadler, and with a young son, Caplan has little time for much besides family, work, politics and football. He seems to embody that space between old and new which typifies Cameron’s approach to the forthcoming election.

Not originally from a politically Conservative family – his grandfather was a socialist, and his father a Trade Union Father of the Chapel – Caplan, was inspired by Thatcher’s reforms of the 1980s.

His father, who worked as a printer on Fleet Street, decided to set up his own business. And it was the new market economy, encouraging entrepreneurship, which Caplan believes allowed his parents to successfully establish their own printing firm.

Together they imbued in him, “a sense of aspiration, in that you can move from one thing to another… it’s all about creating the framework which enables people to flourish.”

At university in Birmingham where he studied Politics, his views became even clearer. Inspired to launch a campaign after the student union banned the sale of the Sun newspaper on campus – “students should be intelligent enough to decide what they want to read, and I believe in freedom of speech and freedom of expression,” – Caplan successfully debated and overturned the embargo. He began to see freedom and pluralism as something the Left tried to stifle.

On civil liberties, Caplan describes himself as a liberal Conservative: “…when it comes to ID cards, detention without trial, national databases – I think people should have as much freedom as possible.”

Although he admires Abbott for her attitude, he believes that after 23 years in power, Hackney needs a new approach.

And in an area with the highest number of unemployed people looking for each new job in the country – Caplan clearly knows his stuff, and endlessly reels off facts and figures about the area which may soon become home – this “new approach” which he thinks he can offer, is going to have to be pretty special.

Any new job in Hackney North attracts 92 applicants. The second highest rate in the country, in Birmingham, stands at 65 applicants per position, with the national average less than 10. Caplan doesn’t understand why this is happening here: “Hackney is a great place, but it’s being held back by Labour, and it could be made even better.”

When the dotcom bubble burst in 2001, Caplan was made redundant from his position at telecommunications firm, NTL. Although he soon found a new job, this period forced him to think about the jobs market, and the necessity for appropriate skills training for the unemployed.

He is keen to stress then, not just the need for better primary education, but the importance of opening up the jobs market -  education and jobs, his main passions, are an area where he feels Abbott and Labour have “really let Hackney down.”

Currently working in public relations, he is excited about the possibility of entering Westminster – to him it represents where government is held to account, and it is this that has driven him to enter politics.

And of his plans for after the election, Caplan is characteristically to the point: “If I win, I’ll be spending my time being an MP! And if I don’t win – I’m going to try and do a triathlon.” Which is sort of what you’d expect from one of this new breed of  Tories. Dust yourself off and compete in a triathlon.