E1.4 Winds of Change

• Migration to and from Britain in 1967:

  — 113,000 more people left than arrived.

  — People leaving tended to go to Colonies of White Settlement.

  — Most of the 45,900 people coming from India for the NHS.
• Migration

  Push Factors (1)

  — Wartime rationing in Britain continued for almost a decade after the war. It didn’t end until 1954.

  — Increased demand for labour in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

  — Survey in 1948 showed that 25% of British people were in contact with relatives who had settled in Dominions. Almost half said they would consider moving to join their family members abroad.
• Migration

  Push Factors (2)

  — National service (compulsory military service) and deployment in several wars and conflicts led to a spread of British troops and their family across British territories. Many remained even when their service ended.
• Migration

  Push Factors (3)

  — 1945 the Australian government launched to the assisted passage scheme (Ten Pound Poms). Encouraged British people to move there in order to boost the workforce.

  — Places like Australia, New Zealand and Canada hadn’t experienced any direct fighting, thought they could offer a higher standard of living than Britain could.
• Migration

  Pull Factors (1)

  — There was plentiful but relatively low-paid work for unskilled workers in British factories.

  — British Government actively recruited people from around the Empire to meet labour requirements in the new NHS and public transport.
• Migration

  Pull Factors (2)

  — The British Nationality Act 1948 gave full British citizenship to every inhabitant of the Empire. Free entry into Britain. The Empire Windrush brought 492 migrants from Jamaica.

  — The newly developing Welfare State included the NHS, State pension scheme, unemployment and disability payments, council housing developments and a reformed education system. Provided “free” support and assistance to all British Citizens.
• British Reactions to Immigration:

  Politics and Government Actions. (1)

  — Oswald Mosley and the Union Movement (From 1948) - Mosley, fascist, established the Union Movement, encourage working and middle class British people to oppose immigration.

  — 1962 Commonwealth Immigration Act - Ended free immigration and guaranteed British citizenship for all former colonial subjects. Introduced a category system and quotas for immigration, meaning numbers reduced significantly.
• British Reactions to Immigration:

  Politics and Government Actions. (2)

  — Harold Wilson’s Social Reforms (1964 Onwards) - Response to the mass public concern about negative impact of immigration. Series of social reforms, including the Abolition of Death Penalty in 1965 and the Legalisation of Abortion in 1967.

  — 1964 General Election (Peter Griffith) - Had a heavy focus on immigration, Griffith campaigned an explicitly racist slogan ‘if you want a coloured for a neighbour vote Labour‘.
• British Reactions to Immigration:

  Politics and Government Actions. (3)

  — 1965 Race Relations Act - Forbade public discrimination on “the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origin.”

  — 1966 Race Relations Board - Complaints would be investigate. Board handled almost 1000 cases its first year, 734 were dismissed due to lack of evidence.
• British Reactions to Immigration:

  Society and Popular Culture. (1)

  — The British Film Industry (1950s onwards) - fewer films used the empire as a backdrop. Some major blockbusters kept imperial messages e.g. North West Frontier.

  — Eagle Comic (From 1950) - Editors told staff to stay away from the formerly popular imperial themes of heroism and adventure in the colonies.
• British Reactions to Immigration:

  Society and Popular Culture. (2)

  — Americanisation (1950s onwards) - Many people turned their back on the Empire and Commonwealth and focussed on what America represented at this time. (Modern lifestyles, rock and roll music, Hollywood cinema, fast food).

  — Teddy Boy Riots 1958 - Young working class men who held “traditional British” beliefs. Congregated in large groups and targeted black people, violent verbal and physical attacks.
• British Reactions to Immigration:

  Society and Popular Culture. (3)

  — Carnival (from 1959) - Caribbean Carnival held in London every summer from 1959. 1966, officially became the Notting Hill Carnival, vibrant celebration of multiculturalism. Number of white British people who attended increased every year.
• British Reactions to Immigration:

  Society and Popular Culture. (4)

  — Coronation Street (1960 onwards) - New soap opera that focussed on working class families in Manchester.

  — Til Death Do Us Part (from 1965) - A BBC ”comedy” focussed on a racist, xenophobic, bigot. The shows writers intended it to be satirical but it achieved a cult.