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LIB DEM EURO CANDIDATE CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO HELP COUNCILS COPE WITH ROMANIAN AND BULGARIAN IMMIGRATION

January 6, 2014 12:34 PM
Originally published by East Midlands Liberal Democrats

ISSAN GHAZNI - who is a European parliamentary candidate - has backed calls for the Government to introduce a 'settlement fund' to help local Councils which experience clusters of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants.

Issan Ghazni (who is in 2nd place on the East Midlands Euro list) predicted that the overall numbers of arrivals from Romania and Bulgaria are likely to be small, but past experience shows that immigrants tend to cluster in a few areas.

He said:

"The scare stories about waves of Romanians and Bulgarians 'swamping' Britain will prove to be widely inaccurate. The media, UKIP and many Conservatives are exaggerating the issue and stirring up fear. This will have a negative effect on community relations.

"All the evidence shows immigrants are net contributors to the UK economy; are less likely to claim benefits or use the NHS; and enrich Britain's diversity.

"However where immigrants suddenly arrive in numbers in particular places it can put a strain on local services, leading to a rise in community tensions.

"That is why Government should help those individual local councils who are faced with a concentration of new arrivals."

Issan Ghazni backed a call by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) for a fund to assist Local Authorities caught up in this situation.

The Facts

  1. Issan Ghazni is a former National Diversity Advisor for the Liberal Democrats;

  2. He is 2nd in the East Midlands region for the May 2014 European election (and is campaigning hard for the re-election of MEP Bill Newton-Dunn);

  3. He is also Chairperson of the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats - an affiliated organisation representing Black, Asian and other minority ethnic party members;

  4. He recently wrote on the Lib Dem Voice blog about the need to expose UKIP (http://www.libdemvoice.org/opinion-time-to-expose-ukip-37625.html);

  5. Tim Finch from the IPPR can be seen talking about the same issue (the need for government funds to help local councils cope with new immigrants) on The Guardian's website here: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2013/dec/23/migration-welfare-debate-sideshow-research-video ;

  6. Issan Ghazni believes politicians should behave responsibly in situations where people are getting anxious and should show leadership by trying to reassure them and give proper facts rather than panic and resort to populist measures that do harm;

  7. He also believes in the principle of freedom of movement across the EU.