Tory leader Cameron visits Colindale monastery (From Times Series)

Tory leader Cameron visits Colindale monastery

8:55am Thursday 15th May 2008 in

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David Cameron visited a Burmese monastery in Colindale last weekend to pay his respects to a community united by grief in the wake of Cyclone Nargis.

The Conservative Party leader met a small group of monks, including resident head monk Venerable U Uttara, and spoke with members of the London Burmese community at the Sasana Ramsi Vihara monastery in Booth Road.

Mr Cameron wrote in his blog, webcameron: "Many of the people I met had managed to make contact with their friends and family in Rangoon and the Irrawaddy Delta, and this was an opportunity for me to hear the latest news first-hand.

"It was also an opportunity for me to stress, as leader of the opposition, that the British people are at one with the Burmese people at this time."

Cyclone Nargis decimated the south-east Asian state, which is one of the world's poorest, two weeks ago, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing more than one million, according to estimates by aid organisations.

Mr Cameron appealed to the Burmese government and the United Nations to act fast to ease the growing crisis.

"Many of the people I spoke to said there were already reports of disease breaking out, and there is a chronic lack of clean water," he wrote. "As we speak, there is no greater humanitarian crisis in the world."

Venerable Uttara said: "Many people still can't get in contact with their relatives so they are very concerned.

"It was very good of Mr Cameron to visit. Our community was able to ask questions about how the British Government can help. He didn't talk about politics, just about the need for humanitarian aid."