Immigration continues to be a hot topic in the election campaign. Members of all three political parties were grilled by the audience on issues that matter to the Indian community at the Eastern Eye / Gavari Gujarat Election debate.

Shailesh Vara of the Conservative Party, Barry Gardiner of Labour and Lord Navnit Dholakia went head to head at the Dhamecha Lohana Centre to outline their policies. There were no surprises as the three political party members continued to blame the ‘other’ for the ills of society and they if elected, will make a difference.

What was perhaps more surprising that such a debate actually took place as ethnic minority communities finally get organised and get their political candidates to prove their case for election.

According to Shailesh Solanki of AMG Marketing Group who publish Eastern Eye, there are 168 constituencies where there are significant ethnic populations which could make a pivotal impact on the election. It is therefore essential that ethnic minorities make the best use of their vote.

As for the immigration debate, all the three candidates did agree that the tone of the immigration debate has been somewhat negative and makes people of ethnic origin feel at unease. Shailesh Vara admitted that the debate is not as friendly as it could be and the Home Office ‘Go Home’ immigration vans campaign has not helped the Conservative’s image. However, as David Cameron continues to build strong links with the India, it does illustrate that the Conservatives do care and want people to come to Britain as long as they contribute to the country.

Labour’s Barry Gardiner could only look in amazement and pushed on the idea that Labour is already ahead and the other parties were playing catch up. Labour has the most number of ethnic MPs currently and again Mr Gardiner felt others are trying to catch up. It may be catch up, but the Conservatives are putting ethnic candidates where there is some hope that they might win. The host of the debate, Nihal pushed Lord Dholakia on political parties on the one hand fielding ethnic candidates for the election, but with little hope of winning as they seats are safe with the incumbents. Lord Dholakia stressed that all the main parties are trying hard to encourage ethnic communities to play a greater role in politics and get involved. This election may actually see the most number of ethnic MPs.

Other key issues discussed included how political the political parties consulted on matters relating to Indian community. This was particular relevant to the whole fiasco of how the caste legislation was dealt with. The rule on pensions for people who would like to settle back to their country of origin were highlighted but non of the parties could offer any solution to the imbalance. Lord Dholakia nevertheless is considering a Private Members bill to discuss the matter further. Better opportunities for entrepreneurs and stronger ties with India, including supporting India to have a permanent place on the UN Security Council were the other highlights of the night.

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