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On Wednesday 8th February 2017, Chinese for Labour celebrated Chinese New Year with their annual banquet at the Phoenix Palace. Over 200 people attended the event including British Chinese guests from business, the arts, students, public services and charities. Many members of Labour's Shadow Cabinet and fellow MPs and Peers were also represented.

Sonny Leong, Chairman of Chinese for Labour, said the return of a xenophobic, sometimes racist rhetoric and behaviour is impacting on the community. We must pursue a politics of hope strong enough to counter the growing force of a politics of fear. Sonny also gave special thanks to Raymond Siu, owner of the Phoenix Palace for hosting the event. Click HERE for the full speech

Other speakers at the event include Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP and Dawn Butler MP

Highlights of the event include a Lion dance and auction, the proceeds of which will help support British Chinese people into politics.

Chinese for Labour wish everyone who attended the event a prosperous Year of the Rooster and best wishes for the future.

Mr. Jeremy Corbyn, Mr. Sonny Leong, Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great pleasure to be back for this year's Chinese New Year Reception co-hosted by Labour Party and Chinese For Labour. Today is the 5th day of the Chinese New Year of the Rooster. Let me first of all extend to everyone my best wishes for the Year of the Rooster.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone celebrating here in London, in China and around the world! As we mark the start of the Year of the Rooster, let us also celebrate the many contributions of London’s Chinese community which enrich our lives in this city.

I am delighted to send this message to the British Chinese Community on Chinese New Year to celebrate the Year of the Rooster. This is a time to celebrate with friends and family, to reflect on the past year and look forward to the next year.

Tackling the growing inequality in Britain must be at the heart of everything Labour does and says. Not only is inequality at the root of many of our modern social problems, it is also a barrier to growth for our economy.

Failure to tackle inequality will mean we are consigning millions of families to perpetual poverty as well as making the country weaker and poorer in the long run. A fairer more equal society is a more civil and safer society. 

The referendum result was close but clear: Britain is set to leave the European Union. 

The Prime Minister has announced her intention to trigger Article 50 to start the negotiations over Brexit by the end of March 2017. Now the government must set out a clear plan for what happens next and tell the British people what terms they are seeking so we get the best result for Britain.

First and foremost, the TUC’s job is to stand up for working people whichever way they voted in the referendum. That’s why we are calling for a new deal for working people to be put at the heart of the government’s Brexit negotiation strategy. Most people agree that the balance of power in our country has swung too far against ordinary people. They see it in pay packets that are too small, too many jobs that are lousy and rights at work that simply haven’t kept pace with changes in the real world of work, and which Employment Tribunal fees make too expensive to enforce.

As we know, the referendum was all about "taking back control." And now Government ministers and right-wing newspapers seem to want to wrestle back control of the English language from sly "Remoaners."

"There is no such thing as a choice between soft Brexit and hard Brexit," Theresa May has informed us. "We don't recognise this distinction between hard Brexit and soft Brexit...We want the right Brexit," echoed the Chancellor, Philip Hammond.

For the Daily Mail, talk of hard Brexit is the "newspeak of Orwell."

And Michael Gove complains that the label is designed to create nasty associations in the mind of the public, associations with things like "learning hard lessons, facing a hard landing or doing hard labour."

This seems oddly defensive. Is the Brexit project really so fragile that some semantic framing from the defeated Remainers risks derailing it?

And in truth, there's plenty of spin on both sides, as the recent attempt by Brexiteers to talk up a "clean Brexit" demonstrate.

Yet let's meet the Brexiteers halfway. Let's forget labels and talk economic and institutional reality. Below are five different sorts of Brexit arrangements for the UK that could plausibly emerge by 2019.

If we thought 2016 was hard, 2017 could be even tougher. It will be a year of big political decisions for Britain, so there must be no more fudging from Theresa May - she needs to come up with a plan for Brexit, and do so ahead of her March 31 deadline for triggering article 50. Meanwhile out neighbours will have other things beyond Brexit on their minds...

Chinese for Labour won an Award for their dedicated work in combatting the rise in hate crime after the Brexit vote.

The Award was presented by Rt Hon Baroness Angela Smith PC, Labour Leader in the House of Lords at last night's SME for Labour Annual Banquet.

Gala Chinese New Year Banquet 2017 on Wednesday, 8th February 2017 to celebrate the Year of the Rooster

We would be pleased if you would join us to celebrate the Year of the Rooster at our Gala Chinese New Year Banquet 2017 on Wednesday, 8th February 2017.