Bradford debated Brexit

The first in a series of events organised by Operation Black Vote in partnership with JUST West Yorkshire, proved to be a great start for an initiative that is attempting to get ethnic minorities to register to vote in the forthcoming EU Referendum.

JWY certainly welcomed the opportunity to speak directly to a packed audience at the Al Mahdi Mosque to shed more light than heat from an often polarized EU debate.

This discussion sort first and foremost to politically  empower those who were there -150 participants-. Our ambition was to ensure everyone there was registered to vote, and or that they new how to register vote,  but also  to widen the EU Referendum  debate which  thus far has mostly concentrated on the battle between different wings of the Tory Party.  

Yorkshire has a significant ethnic minority vote and the failure of current debates to address issues affecting them can have an adverse impact on voter registration and turnout at the referendum. The fact that the event offered an opportunity to directly address some of the burning issues affecting minorities will undoubtedly enhance democratic participation on 23 June 2016.

The EU Referendum debate in Bradford at the Al Mahdi mosque was lively and spirited and panelists responded to a broad range of questions from the audience.
 
Some of the questions that were posed included: the repercussions of the withdrawal of EU grants for small businesses; the pros and cons of doing business within EU as opposed to operating in a global market; the implications for freedom of movement; the extent to which protections afforded to minorities under human rights and civil liberties legislation could be eroded; and the potential impact on paternity, maternity and workers’ rights following Brexit.

Speaking on behalf of Operation Black Vote, Lee Jasper urged the audience to register to vote by the deadline on the 7th of June and to pass the message on to families, friends and their communities.  He also reminded them as voters had to register individually it was critical that particularly young people, women and Britons living overseas who has been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years used the opportunity to exercise their democratic choice in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to decide whether Britain should stay or leave the EU.

Ratna Lachman