During his visit to the Vadodara Municipal Corporation offices in the evening, he said, the 2.75 lakh population of Brent spoke more than 130 languages and had the country's highest percentage of people born outside the UK (51 per cent) of which around 20 per cent were Indians.

“Despite such large diversity, we have been able to maintain peace and harmony. It is a complete cosmopolitan culture and there is not a single incident of communal or racial abuse. We have complete freedom of religion, speech and expression. I say Britain is a great democratic nation,” he said.

He said while the basic role and responsibility of civic bodies in Brent were very similar to those here, they took a great deal of care while serving the public there. “There is no corruption,” he said.

Patel said they have a 1 billion pounds annual budget, the major portion of which goes into educational needs.

“Solid waste management in eco-friendly way and its recycling are given prime importance. Those who violate the rules are penalised heavily to set an example for others. Public transport usage are encouraged in a big way and even traffic violations don't go scot-free,” he said, while criticising the VMC for not maintaining the city roads properly.