Ukip candidate's family restaurant fined over illegal immigrants
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[img]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/5/16/1400239583876/Ukip-candidate-Amjad-Bash-011.jpg[/img]
[quote=The Guardian][b]A restaurant run by the sons of one of Ukip's top candidates in next week's European elections was fined last year for employing illegal immigrants, it has emerged.[/b]
Amjad Bashir, Ukip's spokesman for small businesses and one of the party's few non-white members, confirmed on Friday that four workers at Zouk, his family's curry house in Manchester, were arrested last June for what he called minor immigration offences. The upmarket restaurant was subsequently fined, he said, insisting that the penalty was nowhere near the £70,000 reported by the Times.
However, Bashir would confirm neither exactly how much the restaurant was fined nor what the workers or firm had done to break immigration law. The 61-year-old, who is very likely to be elected in Yorkshire next Thursday, said the business was mounting a legal challenge against the sanctions. He blamed government bureaucracy for the legal breach, saying businesses were unfairly forced to do the job of the UK Border Agency.
In a phone interview on Friday, Bashir blamed the government for forcing too much bureaucracy on firms, insisting it was the border agency's job to make immigration checks, not that of businesses.
"This is a dereliction of duty on the part of the government. What I mean is, border control and immigration control is the role of the government. What's it got to do with businesses? Are we trained in immigration law?
"They are asking businesses to carry out their work, not just in immigration but almost everything – tax collection, VAT collection. All sorts of legislation has been put on businesses, which is not right. This is why I became a politician, to say this is the role of government, not business. Businesses are there to create jobs. They are there to make money for themselves and their employees."[/quote]
[url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/16/ukip-candidate-family-restaurant-fined-illegal-immigrants?CMP=twt_gu]Source[/url]
Zouk's very nice. I recommend paying a visit if you're in the area.
[quote]insisting it was the border agency's job to make immigration checks, not that of businesses[/quote]
It's the businesses' responsibility to find out if their employees are legally allowed to work in the UK. About every single application form has a section on this.
[quote] insisting it was the border agency's job to make immigration checks, not that of businesses.[/quote]
While it's certainly the border agency's job to an extent, do you not run background checks of some sort on your employees?
[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;44823972]While it's certainly the border agency's job to an extent, do you not run background checks of some sort on your employees?[/QUOTE]
By their logic, that would be solely government's duty. Same case with taxt protesters, who pay their employees their salary in full without deducting tax first, because "it's not their job". In the end it's just a lot of hassle for the employees. And this guy might be one of those as well, seeing how he complains about tax collection and VATs. It kind of makes sense if one steadfastly refuses to look at the issue from nobody's perspective but his own.
Can't beat the fresh taste of hypocrisy!
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