Immigration Legislation

• In 1956, 47000 people entered Britain from the New Commonwealth, by 1961, this had increased to 136000 - This was due to the fear among Black and Asian migrants than Britain would close its doors to further immigration in the future
• The 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act allowed immigrants to settle provided they had been awarded a voucher proving that they had a job lined up (allowed dependants such as wives and children to come as well)
• Between 1962 and 1968 (under the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act), 77966 vouchers were issued and 257220 dependants (usually wives and children) settled in the UK
• The 1968 Commonwealth Immigrants Act sought to close these unintended chains of migration from India, it restricted immigration to those who had a parent/grandparent in the UK
• The 1971 Immigration Act meant that 12 month work permits replaced employment vouchers by the end of 1972 and from 1973 onwards, immigrants could only remain for a limited period of time
• By the early 1970's, Britain had the harshest immigration laws and virtually all Black and Asian primary immigration had stopped, for example, in 1972, just 2290 immigrants were admitted under the voucher scheme
• By the early 1970's, Britain had the harshest immigration laws and virtually all Black and Asian primary immigration had stopped
• One notable exception to these strict immigration laws was the admission of 27000 Ugandan Asians who were expelled from their homeland by Dictator Idi Amin in 1972
• Another notable exception to these strict immigration laws was 10000 Greek Cypriots and a further 15000 Vietnamese were allowed to settle in Britain to escape violence in their homes
• Harold Wilson's Labour government sought to tackle discrimination as well as restrict non-white immigration
• Under Harold Wilson's Government, the 1965 and 1968 Relations Acts banned incitement to racial hatred and racial discrimination in public spaces (making it illegal to say 'no coloureds' or 'Europeans Only')
• The 1968 Race Relations Act extended the ban on racial discrimination to housing & employment
• In 1966, 'The Race Relations Board' was founded to deal with complaints about racial discrimination
• In 1966, 'The Race Relations Board' was founded to deal with complaints about racial discrimination, however saw it as useless as complaints couldn't be made about the police and only 10% of complaints were ever upheld (supported)
• The 1976 Race Relations Act toughened laws against racial discrimination, and it also set up the 'Commission for Racial Equality' in September 1976 to help fight injustice and create a fairer society