Sunday, April 17, 2005
Friends in high places
Dalip tahil was a Bollywood actor who came to Britain to star in Bollywood dreams and then Eastenders before almost being deported, with Vaz and others campaigning for his right to stay.
It's always interesting to read stuff written for people who don't already know what's going on, take a look at this lovely spin on things:
On paper, Vaz does not actually need any outside intervention because he has a safe seat with a large majority and is recognised as being a good constituency MP.
In the last general election in 2001, he had a majority of 13,442 votes but this was down from 18,422 in 1997, which was when Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister.
Vaz, a Catholic of Goan origin, rose to be the minister for Europe but he later left the government and, unlike Peter Mandelson, a close Blair aide, he has not been brought back by the Prime Minister. If he records another thumping majority on May 5, Blair, assuming he is voted back, will recognise that Vaz remains an important player on the British Asian and UK-India scene.
He may even consider giving Vaz another government job and may consider him, along with Lord Swraj Paul, as possible future British high commissioner to India.
