Black Country MPs to chair parliamentary group for Sikhs
Two Black Country MPs have been elected chairman and vice chairman of a group looking at issues affecting British Sikhs.
Labour's Rob Marris will now chair the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Sikhs having recently won his seat representing Wolverhampton South West at the General Election.
Emma Reynolds, the Labour MP for neighbouring Wolverhampton North East, is its vice chairman.
The APPG was established 10 years ago by the Sikh Federation (UK) and Bhai Amrik Singh, its chairman, said: 'We were delighted to see Rob back not only as an MP, but Chairing the APPG."
Mr Marris said: "I was keen to return to a group I set up 10 years ago and chaired for five years."
In the run-up to the General Election the Sikh Federation produced its own manifesto which it convinced candidates from across the political divide to endorse.
The group will also call on France and Belgium 'to stop discrimination against turban-wearing Sikhs'.
France requires Sikhs to remove their turbans for photographs for passports and ID cards. They are also banned in schools along with any other religious symbols.
Mr Marris won Wolverhampton South West from Conservative Paul Uppal in the General Election with a majority of 801.
The Sikh Federation backed Mr Marris over Mr Uppal and said it had 15 teams going door to door in Wolverhampton campaigning.
Mr Marris said after the election: "I'm very grateful that there were dozens and dozens of Sikhs who chose to support Labour."
