Mason

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One aspect of immigration from the New Commonwealth was to aid the reconstruction process. Another was that in this period there “was a growing demand for skilled workers in emergent sectors” so that as British workers gained upward mobility gaps in “unskilled and routine semi-skilled jobs at the lower levels of the labour market” appeared especially in “declining industries where cheap labour was a substitute for capital investment or an alternative to collapse.”¹

1905 Aliens Act (essentially a response to Jewish migration) sought to manage the entry of foreigners although not vigorously applied “Its main significance lay in the fact that it represented a breach of the longstanding principle...that entry to Britain should be open”. Further legislation emerged with the imminence of the First World War which “gave the Home Secretary powers to exclude or deport those thought undesirable and introduced a requirement of registration with the police.”²

New Commonwealth immigrants occupied the least desirable jobs and housing.³ Social strains emerged.⁴

Voucher system established in the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act.⁵

Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1968, in introducing the principle of patriality to thrawrt the arrival of East African Asians had the unworded intention of discriminating according to colour.⁶

Work permit system established in the 1971 Immigration Act established “a practical limitation on their ability to challenge poor working conditions or to involve themselves in any kind of political or trade union activity.”⁷

1991 ethnic minorities at 3 million, 5.5% of the population.⁸ 4 million born outside of the UK.⁹

tendency for spatial concentration of ethnic minorities.¹⁰ See table by district.¹¹

“immigration controls introduced from 1962 onwards was increasingly to exclude potential migrants who were not white...colour other than white might arouse suspicions about citizenship status.”¹²

“attempts to prevent illegal entry have frequently extended beyond ports of entry, into the wider community....the subtle message received by many of Britain's minority ethnic citizens is that they are second class citizens.”¹³

1D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 23.

2D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 24.

3D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 26.

4D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 26.

5D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 26.

6D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 27.

7D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 28.

8D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 32–33.

9D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 37.

10D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 35.

11D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 36.

12D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 123.

13D Mason, Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, Second Edition, Oxford Modern Britain Series, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 124.