Postwar British Immigration - Key Points

Postwar British Immigration - Key Points

Britain has a long history of immigration, and an equally long history of ambivalence to immigrants. 

Ever since the 1948 British Nationality Act, people from the 'New Commonwealth' - India, Pakistan and the West Indies - enjoyed the status of British Nationals, and were called; 'Commonwealth citizens'.

Empire Windrush arrived in Tillbury, London 22 June 1948.

Immigration has been a central issue in British politics since the Second World War. 

Rhetoric often presented immigrants as dangerous, alien and threatening 'traditional' English culture - Rivers of Blood Speech by Enoch Powell in 1968. Most opinion polls supported Enoch's sentiments. 

Such concerns are misplaced; emigration levels were higher than immigration into Britain - 1 million people emigrated between 1961 and 1988. 

Yet there were race riots; Notting Hill…