Early Days- Understanding

Introduction

• Changing times & Faces• African Caribbean story• South Asian migration story• Indians pre-1962 Pioneer phase• 1962-92 Changing times• 1997-Today

Changing times- Policy• 1961 136,000 Commonwealth immigrants -

highest yet• 1962 The Commonwealth Immigrants Act &

application to the European Community- Imperial Britain ending- rights changed, Europe

• Imperial subject hood remained- Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies- rights changed e.g. London passports

• Primary Immigration was reduced.

Post 1962 The Commonwealth Immigrants Act

• Post 1962+ 14 years Net Commonwealth migration rose

• 1981 Census showed 75% Asian immigrants arrived post 1962- liberalization of work permits & Family reunification

African Caribbean story- prominent?

• Largest minority group up until 1970s- India• 600,000 stable up to today• Modern day Britain's fifth Biggest minority• British behaviour as a host nation & modern

black-police relations• Black culture became visible in music, sport &

Symbols of oppression and liberation.• Pioneers (English Speaking), high expectations,

status of Britain

Oppression noun[mass noun] prolonged

cruel or unjust treatment or exercise of authority: a region shattered by oppression and killing

the state of being subject to oppressive treatment: a response to collective poverty and oppression

Oxford Dictionary

Liberation

noun[mass noun] the act of setting someone free from imprisonment, slavery, or oppression; release: the liberation of all political prisoners

Oxford Dictionary

South Asian Immigrant story•Pre & Post 1962•Kashmiri Pakistanis•Birmingham & Northern Mill towns-global competition•Unpopular work

Who were they?• Rural Kashmiris- illiterate

(non-English speaking) along way from home

• Initial plan wages- temporary employment

• Cramped accommodation, low social representation

• Bradford 1961 4000 Pakistani men opposed to 81 women

• Bradford today Highest Pakistani ethnic origin in England (20.3%).

What lead to a 75% increase in South Asian immigration- post 1962?

Why is the Story of African Caribbean immigration to Britain a prominent one?

Where in the UK has the largest Pakistani population?

Indians pre-1962 Pioneer phase

• Many came from Rural Gujarat, Hindus and Sikhs (shared common culture & language)- rural Punjab

• Hindus- high level of education• Sikhs less well educated,

though literate• Found work- manual labour

e.g. foundry in West mids,- hard workers

Indians pre-1962 Pioneer phase

• Hindus & Sikhs- established as successful British minority

• Hindus- British imperial history as reasonable

• Sikhs fought for the crown with Muslims form Punjab

• WWI & II Contribution & sacrifice- the empire

• NHS Doctors

• On 6 November 2002 HM The Queen officially inaugurated the Memorial Gates on Constitution Hill in London, UK. These Gates have been erected as a lasting memorial to honour the five million men and women from the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the Caribbean who volunteered to serve with the Armed Forces during the First and Second World Wars. They also celebrate the contribution that these men and women and their descendants, members of the Commonwealth family, continue to make to the rich diversity of British society.

1962-92 Changing times

• Race takes a role in politics i.e. the race card• Changing immigration legislation• Anti- discrimination acts came into power• More money for local authorities to help with

integration• Experience taken from the USA- racial injustice

was dangerous i.e. creating black underclass

“ In this country in 15 or 20 years time the black man will have the whip-hand over the white man.”

Enoch Powell 1968Rivers of Blood Speech

1997-Today

1997-Second wave

• 1997- Net Immigration 48,000• 1998- 140,000• Labours primary legacy?• Almost double the immigration of 50 years of

Commonwealth immigration in 13 years• 1948- 1990s roughly 2 million• 1997-2012- 4 million, since 2004- 500,000 per

year

1997 onwards

• Britain a established multicultural society by early 1990s

• Anxiety about immigration rose in late 2000s- similar to that seen in 1960s

• Resources rather than race were of concern• 1997 Labour manifesto immigration was of

little significance• Nationwide dispersal

Polish, is the most commonly spoken non-native language in England and Wales. More than half a million people in Britain now speak Polish as their first language,

placing it ahead of Punjabi and Urdu and behind only English and Welsh.

• 2004- 2008 1.5 million arrived from Eastern Europe (mainly Poland)

• Young hungry working low skilled jobs- seasonal

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10120641/Come-to-Britain-unprepared-and-you-risk-becoming-a-victim-of-violence-Polish-migrants-warned.html

Who caused a stir in British politics with his Rivers of Blood speech?

Who became prime minister in 1997 and which party did he represent?

Immigration 1997

• 20% net immigration from Europe since 1997• Rest- ¾ From traditional colonial centres- Asia

Africa, Indian, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Afghanistan, & Zimbabwe

• Countries with no historical ties- Middle East, Latin America, & other Parts of African

• London central- 50% mothers foreign born - white population of London is 44.9%

Why Britain?

• Jobs• English language• Tolerance• Low level bureaucracy, i.e. employment, business start

up• Secondary immigration from other European Nations

e.g. Somalis from Sweden, Denmark & the Netherlands• Danish Laws- Integration law 1999 & Immigration law

2001- reducing numbers 2002- The Liberal-Conservative government introduced what it described as Europe's strictest immigration laws in May 2002.

”If they [Swedes] want to turn Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmoe into a Scandinavian Beirut, with clan wars, honour killings and gang rapes, let them do it. We can always put a barrier on the Oeresund Bridge”

Pia Kjaersgaard

Dansk Folkeparti, DF

Why Britain?

• Balkan wars• Booming British

Economy• Cost of long

distance travel• Legal & illegal

networks of agents & contacts

• Economic interdependence

• EU

Key Uk Government political Actions 1997-2003

1 Abolition of primary purpose rule- foreign spouse entitlement

2 Human rights Act & active judiciary

3 Linearization of student visas & work permits56,000 decrease in international students would cost the economy £725m, a figure based on government estimates that education exports are worth £14bn a year to the UK.

4 2003, 7 years before legally required opened market to eastern Europeans to work- Economic benefits for country- estimated to be 13,000 a year geo-politics

Whitehall runs from Parliament Square to Trafalgar Square. Most of the Government Ministries are housed along the street, and numerous London landmarks can be seen along the route.

2010-PresentDavid Cameron Conservative party- coalition Government

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ8I_IdJGNI

Summary

• Changing times & Faces• African Caribbean story• South Asian migration story• Indians pre-1962 Pioneer phase• 1962-92 Changing times• 1997-Today• Why Britain?• Present day thoughts- Cameron