I thought that it would be a good idea to take a quick look at politics in the land of crumpets and soccer hooligans. Unless you’ve been living under a rock you are probably aware that England held parliamentary elections last week. How did South Asians fare? IACFPA reports:
Seven of the eight sitting members of Parliament (MPs) –– all of them from the Labour Party –– were re-elected in the British general election on May 6, while one, a Liberal Democrat, lost his seat. But that loss was compensated by the victory of a debutant Asian MP on a Conservative Party ticket.
Two of the winners, veteran Asian-origin Labour Party MPs on May 6 celebrated their victories and said they would continue to represent IndiaÂ’s interests in the House of Commons.
Is that being reported correctly? They will continue to represent India’s interests? That seems like a rather lame statement.
Speaking to Indo-Asian News Service, Khabra and Vaz exuded confidence and pledged support to India. “I would very much hope that the government will treat India on par with China,” Khabra said. “Gordon Brown (Chancellor of the Exchequer) has already shown his interest in China. I hope there will be further interest by the Government in India, which is emerging as a major global economic and trading power.”
It seems to me that South Asians elected to England’s parliament should be concerned FIRST with issues facing South Asians in England. I understand that they were speaking to an India media outlet, but sound-bites like that get recycled out of context. Evidence of divided interests are exactly what the conservatives there use to stoke xenophobia. Sunny Hundal, founder of Asians in the Media, fills us in on some of the issues facing South Asians in England:
At 5am last Friday I staggered out of BBC White City, satisfied once most of the election results had been announced, yet saddened by the political campaign.
This has been an election defined by one issue other than Iraq – the continual attacks on immigrants and asylum seekers by the Conservatives. It is also a stark reminder that despite all the talk of Asians making it in business and media, we are remarkably powerless when it comes to politics.
Hundal continues by laying out some statistics related to public sentiment before the election:
Here are some statistics to reflect on, courtesy of a poll by ITV:
-73% of people thought too many immigrants were allowed into the UK – and just 3% believed that not enough were allowed.
-75% believe immigrants put a strain on public services.
-Only 25% felt migrants make Britain a thriving multicultural society;
In reality:
-In the 2002/3 tax year, 272,000 people came to the UK from across the world and were given a national insurance number. Just 8% went on to claim benefits.
-Between May (when borders were opened) and December 2004, just 133,000 people from the new EU countries registered to work in the UK. Only 21 were allowed to claim benefits (0.00016%).
-The British Medical Association says it found no evidence of health tourism on the NHS.
Quick question, are the Tories really cracking down on illegal immigration or actual legal immigration? I’m a little less crazy about illegal immigration.
Well, actually, shouldn’t they FIRST be concerned with the Issues facing their parliamentary seat constitutents, regardless of whether the constituents are South Asian or not? 😉
But yeah, your point is taken. I think there’s an argument to be made for the importance of India’s security and prosperity to Britain’s security and prosperity, and the unique role Asian British can play in mediating that relationship productively, but that’s a whole other can of worms.
There were a couple of young Pakistani guys elected to Parliament too, from Tooting and Dewsbury. The good thing is that they are British born, not immigrants like most of the other Asian MPs. It shows that British born Asians are making progress. I’m not sure if there were any new Indian MP’s elected.
The new Asian MPs are Sadiq Khan and Shahid Malik for Labour and Shailesh Vara for the Tories taking us to a grand total of 10!
Well, actually, shouldn’t they FIRST be concerned with the Issues facing their parliamentary seat constitutents, regardless of whether the constituents are South Asian or not? 😉
well, i have read that in britain localism (aside from the avowedly nationalist parties) is not that big of a deal, that an MP represents the national party as much (or more) than their constituency. after all, i believe the parties set up the lists, so there is a lot less regional identification than in the USA.
i’m sure the MPs were talking about representing india in the same ways jews represent israel in the USA, but they are really stupid to offer than sound-bite because obviously people will interpret it incorrectly….