Curry house owner blasts Ukip bigwig for claiming his chef ‘ran away’ during immigration raid

AN INDIAN restaurant owner has slammed Ukip members for “laughing” at his staff during an immigration raid.

Meedi Vahdati’s curry house was stormed by Home Office officials on Friday night while leadership runner-up Lisa Duffy and members of her team sat down to enjoy a commiseration dinner.

No arrests were made, but the situation prompted Ms Duffy to make light of the incident and describe it as “a bit ironic” in light of Ukip’s immigration policy.

And her campaign manager Jay Beecher said the raid on the restaurant in Bournemouth was the “highlight” of their conference.

He claimed the chef ran away into the night, saying: “Watching our chef running away into the night, his apron flapping in the wind, was a surreal moment.

“Politics can sometimes be such a stale and serous affair, so you have to see the funny side of things.

“In this case too, I couldn’t help be tickled by the irony.

“Overall I’d give the chef in question’s performance a zero out of 10 marks for quality and service.

“But it definitely has to be a whopping 10 out of 10 for speed.”

Mr Vahdati has reacted angrily to the response and denied Mr Beecher’s claim that one of his chef’s had ‘run away’.

He said: “The chef didn’t run away, and was escorted outside by an official to his lodgings to fetch ID documents.

“Jay Beecher – I don’t know who he is and why he says this but it’s not acceptable.

“I am not happy about Ukip.

“There was pressure on the restaurant.

“There was pressure on the police and immigration to do their job.

“Turning it into something laughable – that’s not very good.

“The staff are very unhappy.

“People got frightened and wanted to prove they were okay.

“I don’t think it was a very nice comment – for people to laugh at you.

“Ukip’s response has been really frustrating.”

Mr Beecher, however, is standing by his version of events and insists people should “see the funny side”.

He said: “We aren’t undermining the situation.

“You have to see the funny side of things.

“Politics can be such a serious affair at times.

“The fact of the matter was the chef was taken outside and did make a run for it.

“He was chased after by immigration officers.”

The events at Mr Vahdati’s Indian Ocean restaurant came at the conclusion of Ukip’s annual conference, which saw 56-year-old Diane James replace outgoing Nigel Farage as leader.

Mr Vahdati has denied that any of his employees are illegal immigrants.

Staff were questioned to check they had the right to live and work in the UK and no action was taken against the business as the employer was able to provide evidence that the required pre-employment checks had been carried out.