Windrush & Immigration

Windrush and Immigration

After the second world war, migration to Britain from the former colonies was actively encouraged to bolster the workforce, bringing diversity to Britain on a scale previously not seen.

The Empire Windrush

On 22^nd June 1948, the Empire Windrush was a ship that steamed up the Thames to the Tilbury Dock, London.
The 1948 British Nationality Act gave everyone in the Commonwealth the right to live and work in Britain. Britain had severe labour shortages after World War 2 and migration was desired by the government.
- The new National Health Service and London's improved transportation system were 2 government-funded areas in dire need of more workers.
500 settlers from Kingston, Jamaica had moved to the UK, responding to the call.

Who migrated to Britain after WW2?

1/3 of the migrants on the Empire Windrush were RAF fighters or RAF veterans, many of whom had fought for Britain in World War Two.
Many people migrated from Ireland and by 1971, 12% of British nurses were Irish nationals.
Enoch Powell, Health Minister, recruited 18,000 doctors from India and Pakistan in the 1960s.
By the year 2000, 73% of the NHS' General Practitioners in Wales’s Rhondda valley were south Asian.

Reaction to immigration

Immigrants were initially welcomed. The government had asked that they come and many had served for Britain in the war.
Enoch Powell made a u-turn on his views towards immigration, which is a clear sign of the inconsistency with which Britain treated immigrants.
As migration to the UK rose, some white British people began to feel threatened. Some people feared that they would lose their jobs to migrants. Some people disliked people who looked or acted differently to them. Some people welcomed migrants. Some people were intolerant. Some people were racist.

British immigration statistics

In the 1970s, the most represented foreign country among migrants to England was Ireland.
Between 1950 and 1955, 358,000 more people moved from the UK to other countries than arrive in the UK.
Immigration to Britain peaked between 1960 and 1962. Then in 1962, the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 introduced more constraints on immigration.
Between 1962 and 1965, 50,000 immigrants arrived per year.
It is estimated that Britain's non-white population in 1950 was under 20,000 people. According to the 2011 census, in 2011, there were 1.9 million black people in the UK.

Racist Attitudes Towards Immigrants

The influx of black immigrants angered some people in Britain who held racist attitudes. Many aspects of British society exhibited racist and xenophobic views.

Oswald Mosley and racist attacks

In 1948, Oswald Mosley founded the Union Movement on an anti-immigration platform. Mosley's movement never received mainstream support.
The Teddy Boys were violent groups of youths. In 1958, they launched prominent racist attacks in Notting Hill.

Hostility towards "coloured people"

In 1965, a North London survey revealed that:
- 20% of people refused to live next door to a "coloured person".
- 90% of people disapproved of mixed marriages.
Bengalis in London’s East End were subjected to violence, and ‘P**i-bashing’ (attacking anyone with non-white skin, but especially those of south Asian descent) became common in Bradford and Luton.
It was only made illegal to discriminate against other people based on 'colour, race or ethnic origins' in 1965 under the Race Relations Act.
The phrase "coloured people" has come to be considered offensive in modern times, in part due to the fact it was used widely to refer to non-white people in the segregation era in the US.

Enoch Powell and racist behaviour

In 1968, Enoch Powell, a Conservative MP gave his infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech which said:
- “We must be mad, literally mad, as a nation to be permitting the annual inflow of some 50,000 dependents, who are for the most part the material of the future growth of the immigrant-descended population. It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre.”
In the 1964 election, in the constituency of Smethwick, the Conservative MP, Peter Griffiths won the local seat, and refused to distance himself from the campaign slogan “If you want a n* for a neighbour, vote Labour.” When asked about the posters by The Times, Griffiths said: "I would say it is exasperation, not fascism."

Hostility to Irish people

Racism in the 20th Century in the UK does not seem to have been primarily against Irish people.
However, when the IRA was bombing prominent sites in the UK, the Daily Mail requested that "Irish people to be banned from UK sporting events and fined for IRA disruption to public transport".

1High Water Mark of the British Empire, 1857-1914

1.1Development of Imperialism, 1857-1890

1.1.1Empires over Time

1.1.2Key Questions About Empires

1.1.3Expansion into Africa

1.1.4History of Egypt

1.1.5Control of Egypt

1.1.6Control of Sudan

1.2Imperial & Colonial Policy, 1857-1890

1.2.1The British Empire & India

1.2.2The British Raj

1.2.3International Relations with other Powers

1.2.4Scramble for Africa

1.2.5The Informal Empire

1.3Trade & Commerce, 1857-1890

1.3.1Trade & Commerce in the Empire

1.3.2Infrastructure of Trade & Commerce

1.3.3Products of Trade & Commerce

1.4Attitudes Towards the Empire, 1857-1890

1.4.1Explorers

1.4.2Missionaries

1.4.3Traders & Colonial Administrators

1.4.4Government Attitudes Towards Imperialism

1.5Relations with Indigenous Peoples, 1857-1890

1.5.1Relations with India

1.5.2Relations with South Africa

1.5.3British-Boer Relations

2Imperial Consolidation & Liberal Rule, 1890-1914

2.1Consolidation & Expansion in Africa, 1890-1914

2.1.1Consolidation & Expansion into Africa

2.1.2Consolidation & Expansion in South Africa

2.1.3Historical Interpretations: Expansion into Africa

2.2Imperial & Colonial Policy, 1890-1914

2.2.1Policy in India

2.2.2Policy in Egypt

2.2.3Native Policy in Colonies

2.2.4International Relations with Other Powers

2.3Trade & Commerce, 1890-1914

2.3.1The Benefits of Trade

2.3.2Costs of the Empire

2.3.3Debates Over Trade

2.4Attitudes Towards the Empire, 1890-1914

2.4.1Key Administrators - Chamberlain & Rhodes

2.4.2Key Administrators - Baring & Milner

2.4.3Key Administrators - Curzon

2.4.4Government Attitudes to the Empire

2.4.5National Efficiency & the Boer War

2.4.6Popular Attitudes Towards Imperialism

2.5Relations with Indigenous Peoples, 1890-1914

2.5.1Challenges in India

2.5.2Challenges in Africa

2.5.3Challenges in South Africa

2.5.4Historical Interpretations of the Boer War

2.5.5Relations & Business with Iran

3Imperialism Challenged, 1914-1967

3.1Expansion & Contraction of Empire, 1914-1947

3.1.1Impact of WW1

3.1.2Palestine

3.1.3Ireland & WW1

3.1.4Impact of WW2 on the British Empire

3.2Colonial Policy & Administration, 1914-1947

3.2.1Administration in India & Palestine

3.2.2Administration in Iraq & the Dominions

3.2.3Imperial Defence

3.3Trade, Commerce & Economic Impact of War

3.3.1Economic Impact of WW1

3.3.2Inter-War Trade & Commerce

3.3.3Economic Impact of WW2

3.4Attitudes Towards the Empire, 1890-1914

3.4.1Colonial Administrators

3.4.2Trusteeship

3.4.3Gandhi

3.4.4Montagu, Haig & Linlithgow

3.4.5Cameron, Mitchell, Cohen & Furse - African Admins

3.4.6Imperialist Ideals

3.5Relations with Indigenous Peoples, 1914-1947

3.5.1Ireland & India 1914-1947

3.5.2The Middle East and Africa

4The Wind of Change, 1947-1967

4.1Decolonisation in Africa & Asia, 1947-1967

4.1.1Reasons for Decolonisation

4.1.2Decolonisation in East & West Africa

4.1.3Decolonisation in Central & South Africa

4.1.4Decolonisation in Asia

4.2Colonial Policy & Administration, 1947-1967

4.2.1Relations & Business with Iran after WW2

4.2.2The 'Winds of Change'

4.2.3The Suez Canal Crisis - 1956

4.2.4International Relations 1947-1967

4.3Trade & Commerce, 1947-1967

4.3.1The Economic Impact of WW2

4.4Attitudes Towards the Empire, 1947-1967

4.4.1Colonial Administrators: Cohen & Arden-Clarke

4.4.2Local Leaders in the Independence Movement

4.4.3Pan-Africanism in Nationalism

4.5Post-Colonial Ties, 1947-1967

4.5.1Windrush & Immigration

4.5.2Commonwealth Immigrants Act

4.5.3Residual Impact of the Empire

4.6Relations with Indigenous Peoples, 1947-1967

4.6.1Challenges to Colonial Rule Post 1947

4.6.2Kenya & the Mau Mau Uprising

4.6.3Nigeria & Rhodesia

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