Labour party has always been close to the Asian community, ever since the arrival of the diaspora in Britain. But David Cameron as the Prime Minister was able to sway their support towards the Conservative party and it is believed that 1.2mn Indians voted for them, helping the Tories to form a majority government in 2015. But in 2017, among the Tories, the number of Brit-Indian candidates have gone down from 17 to 13, though Labour party has maintained their numbers to 14, same as in 2015. The Labours also have declared the largest number of BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) candidates this year- a total of 58. The Lib Dems have also put forward 25 Asian candidates, including 9 Indians and 11 Pakistanis.
The consequnces of Brexit has been on people's minds, especially those Asians who had voted in favour of 'Leave', hoping that it would open up new avenues of opportunities for them. But the 2017 election manifestos by Labours and Lib Dems reflect the anti-migrant feelings that are growing in the UK.
In a nutshell let's look at the manifestos proposed by the three main parties, according to :
Key points in Labour manifesto
- Zero-hour contracts a thing of the past
- Abolish tuition fees
- 45% income tax on £80,000 and above
- Raise £48.6bn in taxes
- Hire 10,000 new police officers, 3,000 new firefighters
- Create a ‘Crossrail for the North’ between Manchester and Newcastle, which should connect to the HS2 high speed rail network
- Government back in charge of railways, instead of firms like Virgin Trains East Coast
Key points in Conservative manifesto
- Free school lunches to be replaced with free breakfasts
- Increase funding in schools by £4bn by 2022
- Create around 100 free schools a year
- Reducing net migration to less than 100,000
- Scrap a planned £72,000 cap on care costs, which had been due in 2020
- Maintain pledge to cut corporation tax to 17% by 2020
- 95% four-hour A&E target to be retained
Key points in Lib Dev manifesto
- Propose a second referendum on the Brexit deal
- Ban the sale of diesel cars and small vans in the UK by 2025
- Clamp down pledge on those who avoid paying tax
- Reinstate university maintenance grants for the poorest students
- 1p in the pound on income tax to raise £6bn for NHS and social care services
- Pump in almost £7bn to the education system
- Build 300,000 homes a year by 2022, including half a million affordable and energy-efficient homes
Asians targeted in party manifestos
The Conservative manifesto is ruthless on immigration. They are trying to 'control and reduce' numbers down by tens of thousands and that includes foreign students. They have promised to increase Immigration Skill Charges to £2000 per person, payable by companies or businesses who want to hire anyone outside the British Workforce. Currently companies have to pay £1000 per non-EU immigrant that they are hiring.
The Tories are also planning to make foreign workers and overseas students pay more NHS services, to cover the increasing costs and increase the earnings threshold for people wishing to sponsor migrants for family visas.
Foreign students are expected to leave the country after their course finishes unless they qualify for higher requirements, that will allow them to work in Britain - a clear indication that the 'Post Study Work' visa will not be restarted in the near future.
Huffington Post reported that Labour's draft policy changed after a crunch meeting, especially after concerns were raised about the initial immigration policies proposed in the manifesto. They have outlined their vision for immigration control (after Brexit), suggesting that it could be achieved through a 'tailored mix' of employer sponsorship, work permits and visas. Though the manifesto outlines that the party will not discriminate between people of different races and creeds, it nonetheless reflects the anxiety about Brexit- the end of free labour movement from mainland Europe.
Since the party remains a representative of the labour forces in the UK, it has directly not shown any discontentment towards Indians as skilled migrants taking up British jobs. But it hasn't made any clear promises either, except that it would remove students from immigration figures. They have also said they would protect EU citizens who are already in the UK and scrap the income threshold for bringing foreign spouses in the country- in a venture to end 'skype families', where spouses and families are forced to live apart and interact through skype or facetime.
The Labour party also has promised to make schools free, though nobody knows where will the money come from or if universities later will have space for so many youngsters wishing to persue a higher education degree.
Corbyn's house tax criticised
On the other hand, the Conservatives have pointed out that a new research has revealed how Jeremy Corbyn’s plans to hike up taxes on the family home will impact every community across London. Asians who largely and more often believe in owning a house of their own, will be affected heavily by this.
1.8 million of London’s homes would be dragged into the tax, which was originally designed to be paid only by the very wealthy. Instead, millions of ordinary working families will now be hit with this tax on family homes, leaving children with thousands of pounds worth of tax bills.
Priti Patel, Secretary of State for International Development, told Asian Voice: “Jeremy Corbyn’s nonsensical plans are a tax on the family. Many families have sacrificed everything so they can leave a good legacy behind for their children. People who have worked hard and saved up should not have to worry about the next generation being hit with a punitive Corbyn tax on the family home...”
Theresa May's U-turn create ripples
Theresa May prides herself on her competence and constantly reminds us of the 'safe pair of hands' she is for a 'strong and stable' government, but Tories' shake-up of 'social care' has been attacked by the critics. Not only the Prime Minister made a U-turn just 4 days after announcing her flagship manifesto policy, but she tried to pretend that the basic principles have remained the same- when very clearly they have quite clearly changed.
Long-term care for the elderly is a very complex, far-reaching and emotionally charged issue, as the Financial Times has clearly pointed out. Good policy has to be fiscally viable, fair and enduring. Families essentially require a stable system in order to plan long term and this needs careful and sensitive approach from the government.
The ideas outlined in the Conservative manifesto fell short on all fronts. The proposed changes would have exposed families' inheritences to vagaries of the parents' health- proposed and then withdrawn within 96 hours.
In a way May's instincts were right- it may have helped middle and lower-income families, at the expense of better offs. But it would have also created parental health lottery- people who suffered from a long term health condition like dementia (which many Asians do), would end up much worse off than those who died from a disease treated by the NHS, such as cancer.
All countries are grappling with the costs of ageing populations and visible inequalities. But a controversial idea thrown in the middle of a general election is a terrible idea.
Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson visit Gurdwaras
Boris Johnson during election campaign visited Nirman Sewak Jatha temple in St George, Bristol, where he was scolded by a woman for attempting to use alcohol as an example of the benefits of a trade deal between India an UK. A worshipper at the temple told Mr Johnson that his comments were “absolutely outrageous”.
In a video posted online by the Bristol Post, Mr Johnson, whose mum-in-law is Sikh, was seen telling the temple: “Whenever we go to India, to Mumbai or to Delhi, we have to bring ‘clinkie’ in our luggage.
“We have to bring Johnnie Walker, we have to bring whisky, because as you may know there is a duty of 150% in India on imports of Scotch whisky, so we have to bring it in duty free for our relatives.
“But imagine what we could do if there was a free trade deal with India – which there will be.”
The video showed a woman at the temple telling Mr Johnson that alcohol is “against our religion”.
“I wouldn’t be wanting to put somebody in power who wants to put more alcohol in India which is causing a lot of problems already,” she told Mr Johnson.
“When I heard that on the news I thought ‘no way am I going to vote Tory’ because I don’t want alcohol. I’m a practising Sikh. To me that is absolutely outrageous.”
He replied: “I understand your point of view. Thank you very much for your question.”
He is also believed to have apologised profusely.
Jasvir Singh OBE, the Chairman for City Sikhs Network in his column in The Independent wrote, “Boris isn’t the first to confuse culture with faith, and he certainly won’t be the last. However, any basic research on the topic would have shown him it wasn’t appropriate for that venue or audience. After all, you wouldn’t hear a politician giving a speech about family planning at a Catholic church or indeed about alcohol tariffs in a mosque, even if some of the congregation use contraceptives or like a drink. No topic should ever be off-limits within any community. It’s just a simple question of being respectful about the surroundings you find yourself in.”
Jeremy Corbyn also visited a Gurdwara last week. Covering his head with an orange patka as required, Mr Corbyn served food to worshippers and made an offering at the Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara in Southall, west London.
Kannadiga launches his Parliamentary campaign from Bangalore Street
Hon MP for Croydon North and Shadow Local Government Minister Steve Reed launched the campaign for Dr Neeraj Patil from Bangalore Street located in Putney constituency of London. Dr Neeraj Patil an NRI from Karnataka, Consultant in Accident and Emergency Medicine and a Former Mayor of The London Borough of Lambeth has been chosen by the Labour Party as the candidate for Putney in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections in the UK and is pitted against the Conservative Education Minister of Britain Justine Greening.
Bangalore Street is located in the London borough of Wandsworth, which has three Parliamentary constituencies, Putney, Battersea and Tooting.
This street derives its name because the recruitment centre of the Bangalore regiment was located in this street during the British colonial rule during the nineteenth century.
