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Bajloor Rashid |
Curry chefs solution ‘close to home’
MP calls on caterers to solve migration rules problems by employing eastern Europeans
FORMER Home Secretary Charles Clarke has told members of the Bangladeshi community in Paddington to look closer to home to plug staff shortages which they say are crippling the restaurant trade.
Speaking at the launch of an inquiry into the new points-based immigration system, the MP for Norwich South told a meeting hall packed with restaurant owners from Paddington, Queen’s Park and Church Street that he had “no sympathy” for those who were angry because they could no longer recruit non-English-speaking chefs from Bangladesh and India.
Mr Clarke said the pool of young unemployed Bangladeshis, eastern Europeans and students should be tapped into to keep restaurants afloat.
When the new rules come into effect on June 30, workers from outside the EU will need to speak English, have academic qualifications and possess a minimum of £2,800 in their bank account to gain entry to the UK. Being a chef in your country of origin will not be recognised as a skill and won’t strengthen any application. Evidence indicates that work permit applications are at an all-time low because of the restrictions. A number of restaurants have already gone under, losing on average £19,000 a year with 20 per cent closures by December forecast by some.
The president of the Harrow Road-based Bangladesh Caterers Association told a Home Office select committee including MP Karen Buck and MP for Leicester East Keith Vaz that the new rules amount to a death sentence for curry houses.
Speaking at the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in Acklam Road on Monday, Bajloor Rashid said young Bangladeshis were not interested in the business and called on the government to relax restrictions to prioritise skills over the ability to speak English. He also bemoaned the “heavy-handed” raids across London curry houses looking for illegal workers.
Giving evidence to the committee, Mr Clarke said: “I do disagree with the idea that we need a constant flow of Bangladeshis to keep the business afloat.
“We should be looking within our own country for chefs. With the right support and training there is no reason why we can’t produce our own home-grown curry catering industry. I must say I have no sympathy for those people moaning that it will be hard to get staff from abroad.”
But Mr Bajloor countered his claims, saying that recruiting workers from Bangladesh was key to the industry’s survival.
He said: “The staff shortage is acute and we need to save the industry from imminent collapse.
“Under the new rules, experience and knowledge of the trade do not seem to be taken into consideration.
“You don’t need to speak English to be a chef and in most restaurants the kitchens speak Bengali.
“Saying that women or eastern Europeans or our own youngsters can do the work is simply not right. Women cook at home for the family but are not interested in being restaurant chefs. They don’t reply to the adverts. There is too big a cultural difference with eastern Europeans. We have tried it in some restaurants and they don’t last long. Young Bangladeshis living in London don’t want to do the work either. They want to work with computers or be lawyers. They see it as long hours, unglamorous and dirty work.
“Since the first tier of the law came in hundreds of restaurants have been raided. Officers storm in, at peak time and turf everyone out. It’s completely unnecessary and I feel the Bangladeshi community is being victimised. All restaurants have problems with illegal workers, not just ours.”
The select committee will travel to India and Bangladesh as part of the inquiry next month.
A spokesman for the UK Border Agency said there had been a crackdown on the restaurant trade, but that Westminster was not a problem area. |
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