Leeds International Festival of Ideas: Rob Rinder takes stage to push people to be 'sceptical' about the law

And on Thursday, September 28, barrister and Strictly Come Dancing star Rob Rinder MBE took the Leeds Playhouse stage to discuss ‘The Invisible Rule of Law’.

These are laws that the general public follows, often without any knowledge about why they are in place or how they came to be – and Rinder encourages everyone to be sceptical about them.

Rinder told the audience at Leeds Playhouse: "It is each and every one of our responsibility in this room to preserve, protect and defend democracy.

“It's your responsibility as an individual, and to contribute that to the community, whenever there is a law, to think about it sceptically, to ask why that law is in place, to think about who has power to make that law, and to remember that our democracy and freedoms that we've come collectively to take for granted, have the capacity to disappear in the blink of an eye.

"It requires all of us to be engaged all the time asking questions about whether or not this law is fair, just and reasonable. Many of them, not.”

The 90-minute discussion also included a Q&A from the audience.

Rinder, better known as Judge Rinder, shared how important class was in his journey into the law, how lawyers should be proud of the work they are doing and what aspiring lawyers should know while also discussing topics such as who owns the footage from CCTV cameras.

He also opened up about coming back to the city after the death of his sister, who had studied in Leeds.

Rinder said: “What an absolute gift and privilege it is to be here. My late sister, who died too young, came to university here. And so to that extent, it's been a place that I think some of you know, perhaps many of you will understand, kept at delighted arm's length.

“This was a place where she was educated, where she was happiest, where she formed her most essential moments of emotional and intellectual development. And most of my family also came to be educated here.

“It's the privilege and gift of the communities that make up a city like this. And so I've been back for half a day. But perhaps understandably, I've never had the courage – I'll use that language – and I hope that people will forgive me for doing so, to come and spend some time here.

“But I wanted to thank this city for all it gave and has given my family and all it's given and continues to give our nation. I heard people talking about it before, as they tend to do when comparing it to London.

"Leeds has its own unique complexion, its own empowered identity, its own cultural magic. And to that extent, it is an absolute delight and privilege to be part of this business community in general that makes up this delicious buffet of this tapestry of this place called Leeds.”

Find out more about Leeds International Festival of Ideas via its website.