Category: News Blog

Party Chairman Sayeeda Warsi has sent her best wishes to Hindus and Sikhs across the country as they celebrate Diwali this week. The festival symbolises the triumph of good over evil, light over dark, and knowledge over ignorance. The Prime Minister David Cameron marked the event, which is known as the festival of lights, with a special event in Downing Street last week. Baroness Warsi said: “The principles of Diwali – friendship, goodwill and hope – are things all people in this country, of every faith and none, can truly identify with. “I love seeing the lights and the fireworks every year. They really capture the spirit of Diwali, which is a time to come together and celebrate the joys of life. “So I want to wish everyone the very best at this special time of year.”

During the week of the 31st August Sayeeda Warsi and Andrew Feldman began a tour of the UK on their ‘Meet the Chairmen’ roadshow. Covering ground from Newcastle to Leeds, Leeds to Manchester, Manchester to Coventry, Coventry to Leicester and Leicester to Taunton they set off to talk to our party faithful, with no question off limits.

Speaking during his visit International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell made clear the UK was standing by Pakistan and announced a further allocation of UK support which will help fight the spread of disease; shelter displaced families; and provide more support – including food and medical supplies – to provinces in the south of Pakistan. This means that UK aid will now benefit up to three million people affected by the floods. (August 18th 2010)

Sayeeda Warsi has been appointed a Cabinet Minister and the Conservative Party Chairman. (May 14th 2010)

Today Sayeeda took part in a Panel discussion conducted by the Institute for Citizenship. With an audience of 2000 students Lady Warsi and the other panellists discussed Citizenship and responsibility. (February 4th 2010)

This morning Sayeeda spoke at the CCF Annual Leadership Forum. At the event attended by MPs, PPC’s and Cllrs Sayeeda discussed the future of Community Cohesion. (Oct 29th 2009)

Sayeeda Warsi invites Conference delegates to help at the Radcliffe Boys and Girls Club. The Radcliffe Boys and Girls Club was set up in the 1960s and is desperately in need of a makeover. The young people who use it like a second home have presented us with a long list of urgent repairs and renovations. They have been doing their bit all summer; working with local volunteers to clean up the building and grounds. Now it’s our turn, we need people power – an army of delegates to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty to complete the project in time for the Community Festival on Wednesday afternoon. As William Hague said whilst digging the flower beds, “It is important to contribute and put something back. Social action is fun and you get a lot of satisfaction out of being involved.” If you are at Conference, come along and join in the fun. Jaguar Land Rover are running a free shuttle service running from outside Bar 38 on St Peters St. We look forward to seeing you there. Sayeeda (October 6th 2009)

We have returned from Srebrenica, tired but elated, after an amazing week. The whole experience has made me feel very humble. Srebrenica still bears the scars of the ethnic cleansing, both physically and emotionally, and the atmosphere in the town is very tense. It was a harrowing and physically demanding week; the time we spent listening to the terrible stories of the returning refugees and the mothers of Srebrenica left us all feeling angry and desolate. We were grateful to be able to channel our feelings into positive social action and between us managed to deliver a football pitch for a community in the hills, an IT suite for the young people studying at Srebrenica High School team, donations of toys to the kindergarten and special needs school and a new home for a Bozniak family who have been refugees for the past fifteen years. All of our projects were facilitated brilliantly by Lady Nott’s charity, Fund for Refugees, who do such fantastic work in the region. Our experiences and interaction with the local people have left a lasting impression; it cemented my belief that social action is not just about the structures you build and the walls you paint, it is about the time you spend talking, understanding and building relationships. Time and again, the local people stressed that the way in which we, as foreigners, could help the most was to tell the story of the horrors of Srebrenica, to remind the world of the genocide, to keep the memories fresh in order to prevent anything like it ever happening again. The situation in Bosnian Herzegovenia is by no means resolved, tension remains and discrimination against the Bosniak people continues: the Grand Mufti of Bosnia Herzegovenia summed it up beautifully; the last thing he said in our meeting with him was ‘Please don’t forget us’. Thankfully, the mothers of Srebrenica and the local people involved in our projects were reassured to hear William Hague stressing that the Conservative Party recognised the difficulties facing Bosnia Herzegovenia and promising that we would remain focussed on helping to resolve Bosnia’s future both for the benefit of the Bosnian people and the European Union. Social action projects like Project Maja are invaluable both to the Conservatives involved and to the local communities; they break down barriers, build trust and allow politicians to leave Westminster behind and rediscover why politics matters and what drives them to create change. However, none of these projects would be possible without the help and support of so many different organisations and individuals. Project Maja is indebted to Landrover Jaguar, Microsoft, Mothercare, Woking Football Club, McDonalds, the Co-operative Bank, the FA and RH Freight to name but a few. The generous individuals in Glasgow and London know who they are! I would urge anyone who has the opportunity to participate in a social action project like Project Maja to seize it, you certainly won’t regret it. (August 10th 2009)

International Social Action Today Sayeeda Warsi and thirty volunteers travel to Bosnia Herzegovina to begin international Social Action venture Project Maja. Accompanied by PPCs, MPs and Shadow Cabinet colleagues Sayeeda Warsi and her Social Action team will spend five days in Srebrenica, Bosnia Herzegovina. The projects will include renovating a computer suite for the local high school, funding and helping charity Fund for Refugees build a house for a returning refugee family and a revamp a football pitch.