Parmjit Singh Gill's Maiden Speech

Thank you Mr Speaker, for calling me to make my maiden speech, and I rise to do so, with great pride and honour.

I owe a great debt of gratitude, to the people of Leicester, who have given me the privilege of representing them.

When they elected me, they sent a powerful message to this country. They want to restore trust in politics, and trust in our politicians. It is a challenge for me, and for all Honourable members.

Leicester South was last held by a Liberal Member of Parliament in 1923, by Ronald Allen, and it is interesting to note, that in the same year, the Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill also stood as a Liberal in Leicester.

I am therefore honoured to be elected the first Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament in my Constituency for over 80 years, and further honoured, to be the first Sikh Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament in British history, and the first Liberal Member of Parliament from a Black minority ethnic community for over a 100 years.

My victory in July this year came 112 years after the July of 1892, when Dadabhai Naoroji, the first British Member of Parliament from a Black minority ethnic community, was elected as the Liberal Member for Finsbury Central.

He was known as the "Grand Old Man of India". Both Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, assisted in his election campaign. They went on to become the Leaders of India and Pakistan.

I would not be here today, but for the sad and untimely death of my predecessor, the Hon Jim Marshall MP, and I wish to pay tribute, to him.

I knew Jim Marshall, and he was respected both by his constituents and by Honourable Members.

In paying tribute, I refer to his maiden speech of October 1974, and the following words of wisdom contained within it:

"Finally, I refer to the section of the Gracious Speech, opposing racial discrimination, at home and overseas.

Those who know Leicester well, probably realise that within our city, we probably have one of the highest percentage immigrant populations, of anywhere in the country, and I should be foolish to deny that there are real social problems.

There undoubtedly are, and in the long term they can be solved only by an ample injection of central Government funds, a point which I hope my Rt Hon friends will again bear in mind, for future reference."

Those were his words, 30 years ago. Over time, as more refugees have been re-settled in Leicester by the Home office, there has not been an adequate injection of central Government funds, to help with the costs of integrating new communities, and Leicester has been short funded in real terms, by millions of pounds.

As with my predecessor, I hope RT Hon colleagues will bear this in mind, for future reference.

In my constituency surgeries, I am inundated with people suffering from misery and hardship, as a result of immigration rules, and long delays by the Home office, in processing casework.

This leaves husbands and wives, mothers and children separated, and traumatised. The Hon Labour Member for Leicester East, was aware of this problem when he made his maiden speech, some 17 years ago, in 1987. To quote him,

"That is happening when we have a Government in Office who claim to believe in family values. It is a disgrace."

He stated, referring to the Conservative Government in office at the time.

But that is happening now, when we have a Labour Government in office, who equally claim to believe, in family values.

That is an equal, if not bigger disgrace.

I am proud to say that I was born in the Constituency I now represent, in the Royal Infirmary. It is has a significant problem with MRSA, and is one of three City hospitals which together have some 5,000 people waiting for much needed operations. I shall be fighting hard to put patients first and help cut unacceptably long waiting times.

Many of these are older people. Leicester South has over 14,000 people, of pensionable age.

This is a particularly vulnerable group who not only have to suffer the indignity of poor pensions, the long term prospect of paying for personal care, the unfair Council Tax, but more recently in my Constituency, the added difficulties of travelling to find a Post Office following the inconsiderate closures that have taken place.

This, despite very strong opposition from the local community and, the Liberal Democrats.

My Constituency has two large Universities, De Montfort and Leicester. The educational strength of the City is a major attraction, with approximately 40,000 students, making up about 14%, of the city's population.

At Leicester University, students are enrolled from more than 100 countries, and it has Britain's only 5 star rated research facility in Genetics. This was the birthplace of DNA Fingerprinting, or Profiling, an invaluable tool in the fight against serious crime.

This is in sharp contrast to the proposed National Identity Card Scheme, which relies on untested new technology, and is unlikely to achieve its stated objectives, yet will cost in excess of £3Bn.

Money that would be better spent on the police service, which is warning that it may have to cut the numbers of officers, due to a lack of funding.

The textile industry which forty years ago employed 140,000 of the 800,000 or so, population of Leicestershire, now employs around 28,000 and this is expected to almost halve by 2012. It is an industry which has catastrophically declined, and is one in which my mother, Gurdev Kaur Gill, worked for much of her life.

DeMontfort University has played an active role in helping the local economy, survive the decline in textile industry, by focusing its energies on more design and technology led niches, through the innovative Business Development Centre.

However desirable Leicester is as a place to study, through its connections to the outside world, this House cannot ignore the fact that undergraduate students, face a real and severe financial burden, from top-up and tuition fees.

This is repeatedly expressed to me, by hundreds of very concerned young people, who I shall continue to relentlessly support.

Leicester has a population of about 284,000 and is amongst, the 10 largest cities, in the country.

According to the 2001 census, 40% belong to ethnic communities other than white British, and the City celebrates its diversity. This is reflected with Leicester having been awarded Beacon status from the Government, in "Promoting Racial Equality" in 2002, and "Community Cohesion " in 2003.

I welcome the Commission for Equality and Human Rights and look forward to examining the detail.

In February 2001, The New York Times ran the headline 'British City Defines Diversity and Tolerance'.

The article referred to Leicester, and recognised it as a model of diversity not only in the UK but throughout Europe and across the world. The first City to be twinned with an Indian City.

Those who have settled in Leicester come from all over the world, and it is a home to religious practise for Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains. Jews, Muslims and Sikhs.

And it has the only Jain temple in Europe.

This is a far cry from the early 70's, when large Asian populations were evicted from East African countries, and the Labour Council placed advertisements in Ugandan newspapers warning that, and I quote:

"In your own interests and those of your family you should accept the advice of the Uganda Resettlement Board and not come to Leicester."

Labour's warning failed. East African Asians came in large numbers, and went on to contribute to Leicester's economy, in a very significant way.

Most of all, credit must be given to the majority white population of Leicester, without whose help, tolerance, and understanding, the great social integration of so many ethnic minority communities, could not have taken place.

They have proud roots. Leicester is known as the birthplace of the modern English language, which developed in the city, from a mixture of Norse and Anglo-Saxon, at the turn of the last millennium.

The BBC1's nationwide, IQ quiz - Test the Nation, in which 95,000 people took part online, revealed that Leicester folk, were the brightest city dwellers. On hearing my By-election result in July, I could confirm this to be true.

The Leicester South Constituency, is also the sporting Capital of Britain, with Leicester City Football Club, Leicester Tigers Rugby Club and Leicestershire County Cricket Club, all with their homes in the Constituency.

It is also at the forefront of initiatives, like 'Kick Racism Out of Football', and in a survey by Men's Health magazine, Leicester was quoted as the healthiest place in Britain, for men to live.

During the By-election many Hon Members and political activists from all Parties, got to know Leicester Railway Station.

At this year's National Rail Awards, it was highly commended in the Station of The Year category, as one of the three best, in the country

I was particularly pleased at this accolade for the staff there, who for over thirty years, included my father, Mohinder Singh Gill.

Leicester South is a vibrant Constituency and people from the ward areas of Aylestone, Castle, Eyres Monsell, Freemen, Knighton, Stoneygate and Spinney Hills, share similar concerns and desires. Good education, good housing, locally available healthcare, a low crime rate and jobs for all.

They want a better future for themselves and for their children, and they want concerted International effort on Environmental and climate issues.

They recognise the principled stance, the Liberal Democrats took against the war in Iraq, and they want progress on a Middle East Peace Process.

This is a Constituency which was rightly, hard fought, and one, that I intend to represent, to my fullest ability.