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people voting for candidates who shared the same
religious beliefs.
“Leicester has always maintained a harmonious
relationship over so many years,” he said.
“Faith was at a different level, and politics at a
different level.
“It’s completely wrong to vote on religious lines.
You [should] vote for a person’s skills and what they
can provide to the wider community, and how they
can deal with issues which we have – unemploy-
ment, health, and there’s so many inequalities in
this country – rather than faith as a main basis.”
However, the former MP, Claudia Webbe, dis-
missed the idea that the election result in her for-
mer constituency was based on religion.
Yet she said that despite concerns over the cost-
of-living crisis, zero-hour contracts, the clothing
firm Boohoo leaving the city and housing problems,
the biggest talking point was the war between Israel
and Palestine.
“They didn’t think that I jumped on the band-
wagon,” Webbe told Eastern Eye. “What they saw
was I’ve consistently raised issues that mattered to
people living here, humanitarian issues abroad
which matter to people living here.
“So, people remember that I was outspoken on
the issue of Indian farmers and what happened in
with regards to Indian farms. I was outspoken on
that when others weren’t.
“People were also aware that I’ve been outspoken
on the issue of Yemen for some time, so there was a
consistent pattern people saw in what I was doing.
“So, they didn’t just talk about my work in rela-
tion to Gaza, but also all the other causes that I had
stood up for and that was very important.”
In addition, all the sources Eastern Eye spoke to
were shocked that a south Asian would stand for
Reform UK on a ticket of anti-immigration.
In the event, Raj Solanki polled 2,611 or 5.6 per
cent of the total ballot, and this means he keeps his
£500 deposit.
“The Tory voters voted Tory because the only al-
ternative for the Tory voters was Reform,” said
Webbe. “If Reform had a different candidate, the
Tories would have had fewer votes.
“They didn’t want to vote for the Reform candi-
date because he had a south Asian name, and that’s
what I was hearing in those particular pockets.”
Additional reporting by Sarwar Alam
ion in Leicester East
PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
‘The invisible threat
on our doorstep’
KASHIF AHMED IS ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO SHARE THEIR
EXPERIENCES OF HOW AIR POLLUTION AFFECTS THEIR HEALTH
I’VE lived in Bradford all my life. I am so fond
of the city, but there’s an invisible threat on
our doorstep that’s a constant concern for my
family and on a bad day, it can leave us cough-
ing, wheezing and fighting for breath.
As someone who has asthma, exposure to toxic
air can make my symptoms much worse and
even trigger an asthma attack. It’s not just me
who’s affected in the family – my two young sons,
brother and niece all have the condition.
Every day, millions of families in the UK, inclu-
ding mine, are exposed to toxic air pollution
without even realising it.
Wherever you are, there is a very high chance
you are breathing in air that breaches the World
Health Organization’s recommended limits, pos-
ing a significant public health risk.
The number of cars that I see here now, com-
pared to when I was younger, has shot up, and
that’s just on our street. Cars are a problem beca-
use much of this pollution is coming from vehicle
emissions, especially from older diesel engines.
The next generation
are particularly
vulnerable to
the impacts
of dirty air.
Air pollu-
tion can
stunt the
growth of
child-
ren’s
lungs,
cause
people
to devel-
op lung
conditi-
ons and
leave people like me who have asthma struggling
to breathe.
Every child deserves to breathe clean air. As a
parent of children with asthma, the fear for my
sons’ futures is a constant knot in my stomach. I
dread to think what the polluted air is doing to
their developing lungs.
Statistics show that south Asians with asthma
in the UK tend to have a tougher time than oth-
ers. We get diagnosed later, end up in the hospital
more often, and even have a higher chance of dy-
ing from our lung condition. It’s scary, and it
shouldn’t be this way.
I’ve been working with Asthma + Lung UK to
raise awareness about air pollution in my com-
munity by sharing my story and speaking at com-
munity events about the impact air pollution has
on my lungs and on those of my little ones.
There are things we can all do, especially those
of us struggling with a lung condition.
Asthma + Lung UK has some tips that have
helped on high air pollution days:
l Limit outdoor activities and exercise so you
avoid breathing in too much polluted air.
l Go out earlier in the day when air quality tends
to be better.
l Stay on quieter, back streets if possible, avoid-
ing areas where there’s a lot of traffic.
l Walk on the inside of the pavement because
pollution levels are lower the further you are from
the traffic.
l Keep your car windows closed if you’re driving,
especially if you’re driving in slow-moving traffic.
l Be prepared by checking pollution levels in
your area. The Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs produces a UK-wide pol-
lution forecast every day, and for the next five
days, so you can check to see if your local area is
likely to be affected.
These are small things, but they can make a
difference. Clean air is a basic right, and it’s
shocking that people, especially children, are be-
ing exposed to high levels of toxic air that can
make them sick.
Together, we can raise awareness and
fight for the clean air we all deserve.
If you have a lung condition that
you think is being triggered by air
pollution, let your voice be
heard. Talk to your friends
and family, share your ex-
periences, and let’s push
for change.
Together, we can
make a difference.
This is why I’m
sharing my story.
Share yours
using the QR
code provided.
You can also
share your
story at:
campaigns@
asthmaand
lung.org.uk
MAKING A
DIFFERENCE:
(Above left) Kashif
Ahmed; and (inset
left) with his sons
© Chris O’Donovan
folk won’t do. They have bought
into the myth that they belong to
that exclusive club called Britons.
I’ll be accused of being unpat-
riotic, but for clarity, I’m fiercely
proud to be British, and had
things turned out differently, I
would have joined the armed
forces as an officer. No, the dif-
ference is I refuse to betray or
forget my immigrant roots. Like
millions of others, we have add-
ed and contributed to our island’s
glorious contemporary history.
So, what does this all mean?
As I said in my BBC Radio 4 doc-
umentaries, south Asians no
longer have a natural political
home because they feel they are
being taken for granted by par-
ties they were once loyal to. We
are seeing an atomisation of a
once politically homogenous
block, who are now voting along
religious and communal lines.
But more than that, what this
election shows is they are no
longer afraid to go it alone and
take on the parties which they
feel have taken their loyalty for
granted. They have shown that
not only can they voice their con-
cerns, but they can also get their
voices heard in the mother of all
parliaments. To coin a cliché, the
genie is out of the bottle.
Labour has five years to put
things right. But again, the new
prime minister has made an error
of judgement. An ITV reporter
asked Sir Keir Starmer on Mon-
day (8), on a visit to Wales, about
the Muslim vote and what he was
going to do to repair relations. He
refused to answer2. Once again, I
suspect, other non-Muslim Labour
MPs will follow his example, and
this will harm chances of healing
a serious rift. Already one Muslim
MP has criticised her leader3.
The Conservatives, well, they
may have produced the first
brown prime minister, but it was
thanks only to their MPs. Their
grassroot members didn’t want
an ethnic leader at the helm, nev-
er mind leading the country, and
I suspect we’ll see that played out
in their vote for their new leader.
Only if they accept the success of
our multicultural island story –
the positivity of immigrants who
make institutions like the NHS a
triumph – will Britain, like France,
truly defeat the rampant right-
wing rhetoric that is Reform UK.
1. www.gov.uk/government/statis-
tics/irregular-migration-to-the-
uk-year-ending-june-2023/irregu-
lar-migration-to-the-uk-year-end-
ing-june-2023
2. x.com/ShehabKhan/status/
1810391823585784068
3. x.com/ShehabKhan/status/
1810599649838862770
© Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images
© Leon Neal/Getty Images