her which between unskilled and skilled labour.
Two years later the vouchers were abolished. Britain only wanted those immigrants who hạd been trained by Commonwealth colmanes.
The Labour Party opposed the 1962 Act. But the low turn-out of Labour MPs in the House of Commons when the Act was voted law showed that many Labour MPs either secretly sympathised with its aims or did not think the issue was important.
When Labour got into office in 1964 instead of repealing the Act they toughened it up. Wilson brought in a White Paper which slashed Hulluci of vouchers; stricter tests of eligibility of children and most importantly gave the Home Secretary powers to deport illegal immigrants at his discretion without a Court rule In 1967/68 through the 1968 Commonwealth Immigration Act. At that time the media was whipping up hysteria → a disease the Labour government was specially prone to - about the Kenyan Asians.
These were people who the British had taken to Kenya in the days of Empire had been given passports with Kenyan independence.
Many Kenyan Asians wanted to come to Britain. But Labour's Act only allowed entry. to Kingdom citizens who had a parent or grandparent born in Britain.
This Was al cynical move by Labour to keep out the Asians, most of whom could not satisfy this criteria. differentiated unskilled the introduced Anwar rushed reunited highly objectionable would withdraw the again.' British United he forgot to repeal the Act.
to join their mother in Britain.
Kenyan The Act is based.
The Tories' 1971 Immigration Act removed all rights of black Commonwealth citizens to come to Britain and extended the powers of deportation.
Roy Jenkins, who was destined to be Home Secretary in the next governDitta won campaign to be win ner chuaren ment spoke for Labour in the debate on the then Bill. He said: "This is a Bill. If the government had any self respect they Bill and start Unfortunately Mr Jenkins never got around to finding his own self-respect because as Home Secretary in the Labour governments of 1974-79 This was the Act that was used to deny Anwar Ditta's children the right now.
government also published the Nationality Paper upon which much of the 1981 Nationality Even Labour's nev policy repealing the existing Immigration Nationality Acts has drawbacks because it talks of replacing them with 'non-racist laws.
Immigration laws which are there to deny people the right to work and live where they choose discriminate against people of other countries. their very nature in a country like Britain, they must be racist.
Anwar Ditta's children were not kept from her for six years because of Claust 'patriality' because the racist Home Office ofthey were not her children.
Nevertheless, Labour's pledge to repeal the Acts is a good step forward its but Afia Begum with her child — victims of the immigration laws.