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Britain in the 20th century

The period after 1945 saw an increase both in levels of migration into Britain and government involvement. World War Two, like World War One, had forced Britain to call upon the men and women of her colonial empire to join the ‘mother country’ in fighting Britain’s enemies. The government facilitated increased migration and encouraged colonial people after the war to take jobs that could not be filled by British people. People from the West Indies, for instance, were recruited in both the transport services and for the new National Health Service.

Managing migration: new rules and regulations

At the beginning of the century, if you could prove you were born within the British Empire you could claim full nationality rights in Britain:

The British Nationality Act 1948

This act conferred the status of British citizen on all Commonwealth subjects and recognised their right to work and settle in the UK and to bring their families with them.

Resentment towards new Commonwealth and Empire migrants increased during the 1950s. In 1959 there were race riots on the streets of Nottingham and Notting Hill, West London. Gangs of white youths were blamed for starting the riots; a London judge sentenced them to four years in prison, saying: 'you savagely attacked peaceful citizens'.

The government started to panic about the reaction of the public to West Indian immigrants, and in 1962 decided that the Commonwealth Immigrants Act should be introduced to cut down the flow of migrants, especially from the West Indies and South Asia.

Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962

This act restricted the admission of Commonwealth settlers to those who had been issued with employment vouchers. Entry control was established.

In 1968 news broke that Asian people in Kenya in east Africa were being challenged over their position in the newly independent African nation, and it was believed that they were intending to use their British passports to come to Britain. Enoch Powell, a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) and member of the opposition Shadow Cabinet, made public statements protesting about the idea of accepting them into the UK. He talked about a crisis where riots would be seen in British cities, as there had been in the USA that year and suggested racial unrest would inevitably lead to violence. The Labour government reacted by denouncing him as a racist, however they also passed the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1968, which served to restrict immigration.

Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968

This act imposed strict quotas and removed automatic right of entry into Britain for Asian British passport holders (except those born in Britain or those who had a British parent or grandparent).

The next Conservative government brought in further tough controls on immigration.

Immigration Act 1971

This Act moved away from the employment vouchers scheme and established temporary work permits. The Act also introduced the category of 'patrial' which was a ‘grandfather’ clause: if you had a grandparent born in the UK then you were exempt from the immigration controls.

In 1972, President Idi Amin of Uganda decided to expel the Asian people who were resident in his country. Many had British passports and many wanted to come to Britain. The government permitted the immigration of 27,000 Asians through a specially constituted Uganda Resettlement Board.