Integration and Community Cohesion

Lord Raval Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Raval (Lab) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, it is a privilege to speak after the noble Baroness. Since joining your Lordships’ House, I have met only kindness from your Lordships, officials, staff and police. I am grateful to Black Rod, to the Whips’ team, to the conveners of this debate and to pioneering Peers without whom I would not be here.

I also thank our remarkably patient doorkeepers, who have already witnessed my talent for missteps. On my first day, I charged through the automated gates, triggering a shutdown. It was a swift lesson in tradition and modernity, and surely not my last.

In a sense, your Lordships are doorkeepers too. If I were to distil my purpose in this House, it would be this: that after three decades in leadership development across business, academia and faith, I see myself as a doorkeeper—not barring access but opening doors, perhaps even portcullises.

As a wayward teenager, it was I who needed doors opened. My mind raced ahead in some areas and lagged in others. I could have spent life dodging openings. Mentors changed everything. They helped me find my path into Sheffield University, then to Cambridge and Maryland. In Sheffield, I helped bridge industry, education and reform centres to unlock youth potential. Two decades on, alumni lead companies and communities. I saw deep barriers trapping talent, not least in white working-class areas. If you can inspire a plain-speaking teen in their free time, you can handle anyone, perhaps even your Lordships.

I learned that the political scientist Robert Putnam was right. Unattended diversity can fracture communities, but with intent and leadership, it forges strength. Inclusion is not passive—it takes effort.

My parents, Suresh and Padma, arrived in Britain in the 1970s—not with nothing, but with capital and a commitment to service. They ran a family business—30 years of dawn prayers, long commutes and 10-hour shifts—yet my mum still cooked a fresh Gujarati meal every night. That kind of sacrifice not only sustains families; it builds nations. Their values were inherited from my grandparents. At 15, my grandfather, Manishankar, left India as a cook’s assistant, alone and impoverished. He endured unimaginable hardship yet rose to become general manager of a large export business, with my indomitable grandmother, Kantaben, beside him. Their journey is a testament to resilience and the structures that foster it.

Here, economic opportunity is shaped by global dynamics, as was underscored so eloquently in the previous debate. As chair of Labour Indians, I note that, since Manishankar Raval’s maiden voyage nearly a century ago, India, that is Bharat, is rising as an economic and cultural powerhouse. A strong partnership is key to UK security, education, health, climate goals and growth. I stand for a new Silk Road linking India to the Middle East and extending beyond continental Europe to the UK.

Faith too is key for cohesion. Even the smallest hamlet has a place of worship, and faith remains central to many. My political awakening came when resisting the enforced closure of a major Hindu shrine gifted by Beatle George Harrison: Bhaktivedanta Manor in Hertsmere. This was not just door closure but attempted door erasure, granting me a lifelong affinity with other persecuted minorities. That injustice led me at 16 to join Labour. In 1997, Tony Blair’s Government rescinded the decision, safeguarding a monument of spirituality, inclusion and service. I protested outside Hertsmere Borough Council. How extraordinary now to stand before you as Lord Raval of Hertsmere, the place I call home, with my wife Lucy and our daughters, Lukshmi and Sita, who are no doubt watching at home.

Cohesion does not happen by accident. That is why in 2007 I founded Faith in Leadership. With a stellar faculty, we equip faith leaders to serve their communities while building deep cross-faith relationships, fostering trust while disagreeing well. Our 2,500-plus alumni lead critical work, from responding to Grenfell—where faith coalitions remained long after statutory services withdrew—to co-ordinating action during Covid-19 and other crises. We have shared this British model with international friends committed to neighbourliness and coexistence, most recently in Bahrain, to foster exciting cross-border collaboration. Two years ago, I chaired the Prime Minister, then in opposition, in a meeting with faith leaders. His commitment to religious pluralism is steadfast. I thank him, along with my supporters, the brilliant noble Lords, Lord Mendelsohn and Lord Khan, the Faith Minister, and my noble friend Lord Rook—whose maiden speech I eagerly await—for their dedication to people of all faiths and none.

I leave your Lordships with the words of Pandit Sriram Sharma Acharya, whose teachings have shaped millions worldwide, including my family. From his ashram in Haridwar—literally, the “door to the Almighty”—he taught that:

“Our world is one single family”.


That is integration—not just living together, but belonging to each other. Cohesion is the bond that strengthens society. I look forward to working with your Lordships, my fellow doorkeepers, to fortify it.