Vaz Urges Immigration Relaxation

Vaz Urges Immigration Relaxation

Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester, has urged the government to relax the immigration system, so that cooks from India can obtain work permits to work in Indian restaurants in Britain.

Vaz told the House of Commons that Indian and Chinese restaurants in Leicester were facing a crisis due to shortage of cooks.

Vaz stated that the demand for cooks from India and China was increasing, since many of the founders of Indian and Chinese restaurants who opened their establishments in the 1960s were approaching retirement and their children had no interest in running them.

Vaz claims that Britain has the largest number of Indian restaurants outside of India, approximately 10,000. They serve some two million meals a week and the sector is worth over £3BN to the British economy.

Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, said that he did not agree but promised to monitor the system.

There is no reason to assume that chefs, of non Asian origin, cannot be trained to cook Asian meals.