THE Labour party's failure to select enough number of British Indian candidates to contest in the upcoming general elections has attracted severe criticism.
Labour Friends of India (LFIN), the representative diaspora group of the party, on Wednesday (13) noted that the relation between the Indian community and Labour has already been strained over the perceived anti-India stance of the party on Kashmir.
The lack of appropriate representation in its candidates list is likely to make matters worse, the LFIN cautioned.
The group lobbies for closer relations between the party and south Asian country, as well as its diaspora in Britain.
The latest statement has come from the outfit ahead of the Thursday (14) deadline for the parties to finalise their nominations for the polls on December 12.
An LFIN statement said: “We express our regret that the Labour party has selected just one candidate of Indian heritage in 39 safe Labour seats, and no Indian heritage candidate in 100 target seats”.
"Furthermore, despite NEC (National Executive Committee) panels shortlisting or even selecting candidates in areas with a large Indian community such as Leicester, Ealing, Ilford, West Bromwich and Derby, no Indian-heritage candidates were selected.”
There are five Labour MPs of Indian origin who are up for re-election in the polls.
Labour's only new Indian-origin MP is expected to be Nav Mishra.
The group has highlighted the retirement of British Indian Keith Vaz. This shows there will be zero per cent rise in the number of Indian-origin Labour MPs in the new House of Commons.
Sundip Meghani, who was in the running to contest Vaz's seat from Leicester East, was ignored in favour of Claudia Webbe.
According to LFIN, British Indians are the largest ethnic minority group in the UK with over 1.5 million people, which accounts for 2.3 per cent of the total UK population.
The Labour party has received support from the Indian community, with over 50 per cent of the Indians residing in the UK voting Labour in 2017, according to the Runnymede Trust.
Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in northwest of London, in July 2024. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Crossbow murderer found guilty of raping ex-girlfriend
A 26-YEAR-OLD man who murdered three women in a crossbow and stabbing attack has been found guilty of raping one of them, his ex-girlfriend, a British court ruled on Thursday.
Kyle Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in Bushey, northwest of London, in July 2024.
The attack led to a manhunt before Clifford was found injured hours later in a north London cemetery.
A jury at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday convicted Clifford of raping 25-year-old Louise Hunt before killing her.
His sentencing for all the crimes is scheduled for Tuesday.
Clifford had admitted to murdering Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Louise and Hannah, 28. He had also pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment and possessing offensive weapons but denied raping Louise.
During the trial, the court heard that after killing Carol Hunt, Clifford waited for an hour before attacking Louise, tying her up, raping her, and then killing her with a crossbow. He later killed Hannah when she returned home from work.
The prosecution described Clifford, a former soldier, as committing a "violent, sexual act of spite" and said he was "enraged" after Louise ended their 18-month relationship. They told the court that he had "carefully planned" the attack.
Less than 24 hours before the killings, Clifford had searched for a podcast by social media influencer Andrew Tate, according to the prosecution. They argued that the murders were driven by the "violent misogyny promoted" by Tate.
Justice Joel Bennathan called Clifford’s crimes "dreadful" and "almost unspeakable".
(With inputs from AFP)