About ten days ago some 600 invited participants from the United Kingdom’s Caribbean Diaspora gathered at a venue near the British Parliament. The occasion was the latest in series of Caribbean Question Time events that the Jamaica National Building Society has been organising since 2009 through its money transfer business.
While Diaspora interest in such events has grown steadily, previously this has not been matched by any deep interest on the part of the UK’s three main political parties, leading to a feeling that in comparison to Britain’s also large Asian community, many politicians previously saw those of Caribbean ancestry who had been living in the UK since the 1940s, with something close to indifference.
This event, however, appeared to mark a sea change in the way that the political parties will in future respond to voters of Caribbean heritage. Gone was the struggle to encourage MPs to participate or have those involved from the main party organisations attend. Not only were there three senior Members of Parliament present, happy and prepared to answer challenging questions for more than two hours, but there were also a number of prospective parliamentary candidates who will