Portillo makes an impression

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, MAY 12. It was a textbook election gag and Mr. Michael Portillo pulled it off in style. Not that he won many converts in the end, but coming as it did after a bruising race row, the very sight of a Tory leader pretending to eat out of Asian immigrants' hands and being cheered for his effort was a pleasant break.

Mr. Portillo on Friday became the first major political leader of any party to visit a predominantly Asian London constituency in the run-up to next month's general election, once again showing that Tories are thinking faster on their feet in this election campaign than Labour. His visit to Brick Lane, the east London Labour constituency dominated by Bangladeshis, got him more media space than any number of speeches in Tories' own strongholds would have; and more importantly it reinforced his image as the liberal face of his party.

Mr. Portillo, who wants his party to break out of its traditional ``hard'' conservative mould in order to connect better with modern Britain, is expected to be a candidate in any leadership challenge to Mr. William Hague. He told his Bangladeshi audience that the recent racist remarks of some of his party colleagues were `` very offensive''. ``I'm completely intolerant of racism,'' he said as he shook hands with complete strangers, tasted Bangladeshi curry, played with a fish in a ``halal'' meat shop, and sipped Indian Cobra beer. He made solicitous inquiries with Bangladeshi shopkeepers about their security, praised them for their enterprise and declared that the Asian community was a ``very important part'' of British society.

The local Tory candidate, Mr. Shahagia Faruk was at his side as Mr. Portillo picked his way through Brick Lane greeting Muslim worshippers coming out of the local mosque. Not many however knew who he was: some were genuinely ignorant, while some deliberately took to posturing. ``Are you a tourist? See you in four years,'' taunted one young man. In the end, it was a good day's work done, and as The Times noted, he ``established a huge early lead in the race to be photographed alongside different ethnic foodstuffs.''

The pro-Tory Daily Telegraph did its own bit to refurbish the party's image on race. It came out with a poll which, it said, showed strong public support for Mr. Hague's ``personal stand on immigration and race relations.'' While 66 per cent said there had been ``too much immigration'', 43 per cent agreed with the Tories' policy on immigration and asylum as against 36 to 38 per cent who supported Labour's stand.

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