Hosted by the Conservative Party
The Asian Today attended a dinner in Leicester, organised by the Conservative Party, ahead of the European elections on 22 May. In attendance was Emma McClarkin MEP, the incumbent Conservative MEP for the East Midlands, Sir Edward Garnier, MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, as well as local Councillor Ravendrasinh Thakor and Cllr Bhupen Dave, MEP candidates and local activists.
The event was held to discuss the rise of far-right political parties, in particularly UKIP and the influence of extremist parties. “Even more importantly, as Asians, we find ourselves faced with an extremely right-wing, Eurosceptic, anti-immigration choice for the British public. And many British Asians are worried about this. As natural business people we understand the importance of a free movement of goods and the strength of the EU as a bargaining entity, and as first, second or third generation immigrants we understand the importance of immigration. But we also understand the importance of limits on these things.”
“Another thing that interested us about this event was the presence of ‘Conservative Friends of India’, which is a body of the Conservative Party which seeks to engage and involve British Indians with politics, provide networking opportunities with key decision-makers, feed back into the political system and produce the Councillors and MPs of tomorrow.”
Emma McClarkin MEP said at the event: “Conservative MEPs have been delivering real change in Britain through the European Parliament. And ‘ONLY’ Conservatives will deliver a referendum on British EU membership. For more than a decade Labour failed to control immigration. Conservatives are fixing the system. We have already cut net migration by a third and we are working to reduce it further. We have restricted EU migrants’ access to benefits including housing benefit and our health service and are removing those who are not here to work.”
