The Speaker of the House of Commons, The Rt. Hon John Bercow MP, hosted a reception for the Punjabi Society of the British Isles to celebrate Punjabi culture in Britain on Thursday 19th June 2014 at his exquisite and grand residence in the House of Commons.

Among those in attendance were members of both Houses of Parliament and other prominent members of society including The Rt. Hon. Keith Vaz MP, Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee and Member of Parliament of Leicester East; Mr Richard Harrington MP, Member of Parliament of Watford; Mr Paul Uppal MP, Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West; Mr Mark Pritchard MP, Member of Parliament for the Wrekin, Baroness Sandip Verma of Leicester, Lord Mohammed Sheikh of Cornhill, Dr Virander Paul, Indian Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Mr Sukhdev Sidhu, Minister Consular at the High Commission of India London.

In his speech Mr Speaker praised the Punjabi Society of the British Isles for dedicating itself to those who are less fortunate. He re-iterated the fact that the society is non-political and does not associate itself with any one party and therefore draws from a wide spectrum of the Punjabi community. He added that when holding events, the Punjabi Society of the British Isles always gave its support to charitable causes and as a result enjoyed support from the wider British community who are aware of the good work it does. Mr Speaker also thanked Dr Rami Ranger MBE, the President of the Punjabi Society of the British Isles, for his hard work and dedication to the promotion of Punjabi culture in Britain and for creating a platform for future generations to flourish in all aspects of British society.

Baroness Sandip Verma of Leicester spoke on the recognition we must give to those who go over and beyond to bring communities together. She thanked Dr Rami Ranger MBE and the Punjabi Society of the British Isles for working hard to ensure the Punjabis are well represented in the wider community adding that their achievements are not just for them but for the wider Punjabi community. She spoke of the Punjabi community being generous in spirit and working hard to contribute to every community that they go into, making sure that they are positive members of society and are able to not only work for themselves but also reach out to others to ensure that nobody is left behind. The Baroness thanked Mr Speaker for his warm welcome and generosity.

Dr Rami Ranger in his vote of thanks speech said that the Punjabi Society of the British Isles was indebted to Mr Speaker, the Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP for allowing us to come to his House for a memorable evening. He further said that the hallmark of a great leader was to make everyone feel great. Mr Speaker has the rare quality of connecting with everyone, from all walks of life and that the House had become much richer with the Speaker’s unique qualities of being fair and firm with everyone. He wished him a very happy and long stay in Parliament.