Labour leadership candidate Keir Starmer visits Smethwick Gurdwara
The leading contender to become the new Labour party leader made a visit to the country's largest Gurdwara.
Sir Keir Starmer paid the visit to the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick to meet with Sikh representatives and hear about a range of issues.
These included the ten issues set out in the Sikh Manifesto that the Sikh community asked him to take forward as the Labour leader.
Other discussions included the focus for Sikh to be added as an ethnicity in the 2021 Census and the impact of hate crimes targeting Sikhs in the country.
Following the meeting, Mr Starmer also addressed the congregation at the Gurdwara, before serving and partaking in Langar.
Bhai Amrik Singh, Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK), attended the meeting and praised Mr Starmer for his willingness to listen and continue a dialogue around the issues discussed.
He said: "There are a number of human rights issues in the Sikh Manifesto concerning religious and other minorities in India, Sikh political prisoners, the 1984 Sikh Genocide and the Sikhs right to self-determination.”
“We encourage Labour Party members to back Keir Starmer as we are confident as a human rights lawyer he will assist in addressing issues where we have most concerns.”
Following his visit to the Gurdwara, Mr Starmer said he would return to the Gurdwara and would continue the discussion on the issues set out in the Sikh Manifesto.
