Between 1945 and 1971 what restrictions have been put in place to control immigration to Britain and why?

By Rhea Snaith, Third Year History Student

From 1945 to 1971, there had been a range of immigration controls put in place in Britain. At the start of this period there were few immigration controls due to the British Nationality Act in 1948, which stated Britain had an open-door policy and all citizens of the commonwealth were free to enter Britain creating a multicultural Britain. However, in 1962 the Commonwealth Immigrants Act was passed under the Conservative government. For the first time members of the Commonwealth were restricted entry into the ‘mother country.’ The second Commonwealth Immigrants Act was passed in 1968 which further restricted immigration controls partially due to the Kenyan Asians crisis. By the end of this period in 1971, Commonwealth citizens had lost almost all their automatic rights to enter into the UK due to the Immigration Act 1971 where Commonwealth citizens were only granted access if they had lived in the UK for more than five years or if they had a direct relative that was born in Britain. The controls put in place became more restrictive throughout the period due to public opinion on the number of immigrants arriving in Britain. Controls also became stricter due to the concern over the strain the immigrants would place on the welfare state. 

     At the start of this period, there were few restrictions put in place to control immigration to Britain. The British Nationality Act of 1948 meant citizens of the Commonwealth and British Citizens were legally undistinguishable, meaning they were free to enter Britain and the government had no control on the limit of migrants. This liberal policy of little control was due to the post-war labour shortages. These labourer migrants were essential for the expansion of Britain’s economy in post-war Britain therefore showing why the government had such a relaxed control over immigration. Britain also had little control at the start of this period because the Conservative government wanted to keep good relations with the Commonwealth, therefore showing the lack of controls was because Britain wanted to hold onto its imperial power by having strong ties with the Commonwealth and to maintain its status in the colonial countries. It has also been argued controls would undermine the Commonwealth unity, further supporting why few immigration restrictions were put in place at this time. 

     However, the large migration of West Indies was unexpected and unwelcomed. By 1962, the non-white population in Britain had grown to 500,000 people from the 30,000 it was in 1948. Therefore, in the space of just a few years, the face of Britain changed from a white nation to a multicultural Britain. Some were not always quick to embrace the multicultural society, so issues associated with race began to raise and it became the top of the political agender. For example, the British National Party (BNP) based their policies of the idea of ‘keeping Britain white’. Therefore showing the opposition to the liberal open-door policy Britain had and why changes were being called for. This shows why the government tried to make some limitations to colonial immigration in the 1950s through ‘panoply of measures.’ These limited the issue of passports and tightened the rules of the proof of identity when entering Britain. However, this was not very effective as there was still a huge number of migrants flowing into Britain. Migration figures doubled in 1961 with the influx of dependents coming over following the rumours about stricter controls on immigration laws, showing the reason for further restrictions. 

     In 1962, the first immigration controls were put into place with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962. This applied to all Commonwealth citizens except those who were born in the UK or had a British passport. This act restricted the number of migrants entering Britain and allowed entry to more skilled migrants than unskilled. It also allowed the entry of dependents, for example the wives and children of migrants already in Britain. And finally, it refused the entry of migrants with a criminal record and stated those who were convicted of a crime in Britain could be deported. It could be argued these restrictions were put in place because of growing racial tensions in Britain at this time. For example, Gallup’s public opinion poll in 1958 consistently found support for stricter migration controls. Racial tension can also be demonstrated by Goodhart who argues “Racial violence was routine.” For example, the Notting Hill riots in 1958 where 1,500 white men named ‘Teddy Boys’ went on a rampage in a black neighbourhood. This shows a portion of the public had very strong views against immigrants showing restrictions were put in place because of public opinion and public support for further controls on immigration.  

     However, it could also be argued restrictions were put in place due to concern over the welfare state. For example, Cyril Osborne described Britain as a welfare ‘honeypot’ to her tropical subjects. This means that there was much worry over the welfare state and whether the NHS could handle the increasing number of people it had to treat. Therefore, contributing to the reasons for the introduction the Commonwealth Immigrants Act in 1962. This is further supported by the concern the public had about the strain on the welfare state due to migration. For example, between October and November 1961, the Home Office received 426 letters supporting the Commonwealth Immigrants Bill. Many of these were concerned with the access to the benefits of the welfare state. Therefore, showing the restriction was partially put in place due to concerns over the welfare state, and further highlighting the strength the public had in voicing their opinion as mentioned previously.  

     Restrictions increased more over this period. For example, the Commonwealth Immigrants Act in 1968 tightened the controls on immigration further. It required certain potential migrants to provide proof that either they, their parents or grandparents were born in Britain. This act has been argued to have been put in place due to the Kenyan Asians Crisis. Kenya had introduced ‘Africanisation’ policies which did not favour the Asian Africans living there. Therefore, these Asians wanted to settle in Britain and believed they had a right to do so as Kenyan Asians were seen as citizens of the United Kingdom and colonies after the Second World War. However, in February 1968 Jim Callaghan announced they would no longer have an automatic right of entry into Britain tightening control further. This gave a preference to native Africans over Asian residents, therefore as a result only 1500 immigrants from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were permitted into the UK per year. Therefore showing the act was passed to limit the flow of migrants from these countries due to the Kenyan Asian crisis.  It can be argued this was also due to public opinion. For example, Kenneth Morgan, Callaghan’s biographer said immigration for Callaghan was “an issue to be handled in a way attuned to public opinion.” Showing restrictions to immigration control was guided by public opinion. National Opinion Polls found 69 percent supported the passing of the Commonwealth Immigrants Bill in 1968, further demonstrating the support of the restrictions by the public and showing why restrictions increased throughout this time period. 

     The public opinion can also show why restrictions on immigration control increased due to the support for the Conservative party. For example, the Conservatives won the 1970 general election partially due to Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech. Although controversial and racist, there was an unexpected support from the public as national opinion polls found 74 percent of people agreed with Powell and only 15 percent disagreed which made the party reconsider their approach to immigration policies. This shows the impact the public can have over government decisions showing public opinion was a major reason why more restrictions were place on immigration control and ultimately leading to the 1971 Immigration Act a year later. 

     By 1971 almost all privileges Commonwealth citizens previously enjoyed were now gone. The 1971 Immigration Act under the Heath Conservative restricted immigration further by introducing the concept of ‘patriality.’ To gain entry into Britain, migrants had to either have been born in Britain, have a parent or grandparent who was born in Britain or have lived in Britain for over five years. The concept of ‘patriality’ shows why the Immigration Act was brought in because the government wanted to favour those from the Old Commonwealth such as Australia and New Zealand rather than the New Commonwealth and their resentment was more significant than those from the New Commonwealth. Therefore, this shows how the Government wanted to keep Britain from becoming too multicultural by enforcing stricter immigration controls on the non-white citizens of the Commonwealth rather than the whole of the Commonwealth.  

     Overall, it can be argued between 1945 and 1971 the restrictions put in place to control immigration became stricter as the period went on. For example, at the beginning of this period, Britain had a liberal open-door policy with the British Nationality Act 1948 allowing free access to Britain by all citizens of the Commonwealth. However, in 1962 there was a sharp change in policy with the introduction of the first Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and then further restrictions again in 1968 with the introduction of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968, both restricting immigrants from the Commonwealth entering Britain based on a number of rules previously mentioned, such as number of unskilled workers entering the country. By the end of this period, Britain’s policy became very restrictive and so due to the Immigration Act 1971 almost all privileges Commonwealth citizens once had were gone. It can be argued these restrictions were due to the concern over the strain on the welfare state or as a reaction to the Kenyan Asians crisis. However, mostly notably the restrictions were put in place as a response to public opposition of the influx of migrants shown by national opinion polls and the support of any previous acts controlling immigration.  

Bibliography 

Websites 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24463873 [accessed 26 November 2018] 

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/origins-commonwealth-immigration.htm [accessed 5 December 2018] 

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/immigration.htm [accessed 26 November 2018] 

https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2017/08/24/britains-generous-post-war-immigration-policy [accessed 26 November 2018] 

Books 

Abrahamova. N., Immigration Policy in Britain since 1962 (Masaryk University, 2007) 

Adachi. S., Social Integration in Post-Multiculturalism: An Analysis of Social Integration Policy in Post-war Britain (The Japan Sociological Society, 2011) 

Belchem. J., Before the Windrush, Race Relations in the 1950s (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2014) 

R. Bivins, Contagious Communities: Medicine, Migration, and the NHS in Post-war Britain (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015) 

Bleich. E., Race Politics in Britain and France: Ideas and Policymaking since the 1960s (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003) 

Cohen. S., Immigration Controls, the Family and the Welfare State (London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd., 2001) 

Goodhart. D., The British Dream: Successes and Failures of Post-war Immigration (London: Atlantic Books, 2013) 

Hampshire. J., Citizenship and belonging (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) 

Hansen. R., Citizenship and Immigration in Post-war Britain (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 

Hansen. R., The Kenyan Asians, British Politics, and the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1968 (Oxford: Cambridge University Press, 1999) 

Peach. C., West Indian Migration to Britain (London: Oxford University Press, 1968) 

Schaffer. G., Legislating against Hatred: Meaning and motive in section six of the Race Relations Act of 1965 (Birmingham: Oxford University Press, 2014) 

Spencer. I.R.G., British Immigration Policy since 1939: The Making of Multi-Racial Britain (London: Routledge, 1997)  

Thompson. A., Britain’s Experience of Empire in the Twentieth century (Oxford: Oxford Scholarship Online, 2012)  

 Cover Photo Credit: Metin Ozer on Flickr