UK's senior-most Indian-origin minister Priti Patel has launched a "Save the British Curry" drive as part of her campaign to convince voters to back Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) in the June 23 referendum.
Patel, British Prime Minister David Cameron's Indian Diaspora Champion and one of the leading voices of the "Vote Leave" camp which favours Brexit, said it was unfair that Indian restaurants struggle to bring in qualified chefs from the subcontinent while chefs from Europe can come in freely.
"Curry houses are being hit particularly hard as they are finding it more difficult to bring in experienced chefs to cook great dishes and train the next generation of chefs. Our curry houses are becoming the victims of the EU uncontrolled immigration rules,"she said at a "Save the British Curry" event yesterday.
"By voting to leave the EU we can take back control of our immigration policies, save our curry houses and join the rest of the world," Patel, 44, added.
Curry, a name used to refer to food originating in the Indian subcontinent and tailored to suit British palates, is often referred to as the UK's favourite food. An estimated 12,000 curry houses with roots in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh contribute over 4 billion pounds to the UK economy and generate 70,000 jobs.
However, stricter immigration norms have made it tougher for these restaurants to bring in chefs from the subcontinent, leading to the closure of an estimated 600 in the past 18 months alone.
Patel, Britain's employment minister, described curry as an important part of "British culture" and blamed "uncontrolled immigration from the EU" for the tougher controls on migrants from the rest of the world.
She said: "We need to Vote Leave to get rid of this unfair and unbiased immigration, which has a Europe-first outlook and stand up for our communities. Temples and gurdwaras have difficulties bringing priests in. Our communities struggle to get visas for kabbadi players to come and share their phenomenal sporting talents in this country".
"Families cannot bring over relatives for important occasions like weddings and births. Despite our strong historic links to this country, we do not expect special treatment or favours. But what we do ask for and deserve is fairness," she said.
The Brexit camp has been wooing Indian-origin and wider South Asian voters with a "call to arms" to make their voices heard in the lead up to the referendum.
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"Having greater flexibility on immigration, rather than managing numbers with one arm tied behind our back, has the potential to have a significantly positive effect on curry restaurants across the country that provide what has become one of our most popular dishes," said Paul Scully MP, who heads the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the BritishCurryCatering Industry in the House of Commons.
"There are many reasons that I will be voting to leave the EU on 23rd June; the ability to forge closer trading relationships with growing economies like India, Bangladesh and China; bringing decision making back here to the UK and ensuring once and for all that we do not get dragged further into a Euro super-state," he said.
The opposing camp, favouring Britain's membership of the EU, has been equally active in addressing issues that connect directly with voters of South Asian origin.
Hugo Swire, minister of state in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) in charge of India, warned that claims that it would be easier for curry chefs to come in are not backed by any guarantees.
He said: "The Brexitiers need to be careful. My colleagues who claim that it would be much easier to get curry chefs in, I don't know what that is being based on. Curry chefs can come in at the moment if they get the right work visas and fulfill the right criteria".
"The idea that if we come out of the EU, we are in any way going to relax those conditions is not something I suspect has been discussed with the home secretary," he added.
