Watford Interfaith Association was honoured to have the now famous MP for Slough, Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi come to speak at our annual interfaith lecture, in association with Watford Grammar School for Boys on February 22nd. The Harold Meyer Memorial Lecture honours a former Chair, Mr Harold Meyer, a German Jew who came to England on the Kindertransport and who was looked after by Jesuit priests who allowed him to keep his Jewish faith and practice. Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi became famous last September when he stood up in Parliament and insisted that those who had made derogatory remarks about Muslims,  and about women, apologise. The video of that speech went viral on social media. He was very happy to speak at our event, especially as some of the boys were there, and he spoke about being proud to be the first turbaned Sikh to be in Parliament, and about how we should all together, while being proud to belong to a faith, a nation or a culture. Belonging, he said, is crucial to all of us. He spoke about various styles of governance and how well they worked as systems, or not. He said we should always stand up for what we believe in and not go along with the crowd because it is easier, or because that is how it is always done. In attendance were the MP for Watford Dean Russell, the Deputy Mayor Karen Collett, and the Chair of Watford Council Asif Khan. Questions were taken from the floor and he spoke happily to those who had questions and comments. Refreshments were then offered. A photo link is enclosed in the news links. A report was submitted to the local paper but not published.

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