The Kenyan Asians, British politics, and the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1968

Historical Journal

Volumn 42, Issue 3, 1999, Pages 809-834

  Hansen, Randall ^a  

^a CHRIST CHURCH   (United Kingdom)

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EID: 0038501292     PISSN: 0018246X     EISSN: 14695103     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0018246X9900864X     Document Type: Article

References (169)

1. Under 1981 legislation, they and others were given British Overseas Citizenship (BOC); the new status did not affect their right to enter the UK. It is roughly estimated that there are 50, 000 BOCs in the world, including Asians and others, without any other citizenship. Interview with an Immigration and Nationality Directorate Official, Home Office, January 1999.
2. This position was taken by Iain Macleod, Sir Edward Boyle, Nigel Fisher, and Ian Gilmour, in the Conservative party and by Andrew Faulds (a Birmingham MP), Michael Foot, Anthony Lester, and Shirley Williams, in the Labour party.
3. See Kenneth O. Morgan, Callaghan (Oxford, 1997). pp. 309-10.
4. Within the Labour party, the legislation enjoyed majority support among cabinet ministers (with the exception of those specified in n. 2) though many of them likely viewed it as a regrettable necessity rather than a cause for joy. The bill had strongest support, again with the exception of Andrew Faulds, among MPs such as Richard Crossman representing constituencies (notably in the Midlands) with a high concentration of Commonwealth migrants. Interview with Peter Shore, Sept. 1995;
5. Richard Crossman, The diaries of a cabinet minister, II (London, 1976), p. 679
6. Morgan, Callaghan, pp. 308-9.
7. Conservative party archives (CPA), Bodleian Library, Oxford, CRD 3/16/4, 'Memorandum by Patrick Cosgrave for Edward Heath', 19 Mar. 1970.
8. Randall Hansen, Citizenship and immigration in post-war Britain: the development of the multicultural society (forthcoming), chs.'3 and 4;
9. R. G. Spencer, British immigration policy since 1939 (London, 1997), chs. 2-4.
10. On this, see John Campbell, Edward Heath (London, 1993), pp. 336-41.
11. On this, see CPA, LCA LCC 65 (61), para. 2;
12. Campbell, Edward Heath, pp. 237-8.
13. Although Heath's autobiography devotes little attention to it, also see Edward Heath, The course of my life (London, 1998), p. 291.
14. Hansard (Commons) (649), col. 801, 16 Nov. 1961.
15. Labour party archives (LPA), National Museum of Labour History, Manchester, Race relations (July 1967).
16. S. Strange, Sterling and British policy (London, 1971);
17. Morgan, Callaghan.
18. Roy Jenkins, A life at the centre (London, 1991), pp. 188-9.
19. Morgan, Callaghan, p. 308.
20. According to a National Opinion Poll (NOP) taken after the speech, 61 per cent of the electorate thought Edward Heath, the Conservative leader, was wrong to sack Powell from the shadow cabinet. Agreement with Powell's views exceeded 70 per cent among the 'skilled working class' and respondents from the Midlands. NOP, Immigration and race relations (London, 1968), p. 9.
21. Powell's speech was followed by a series of workers' marches on parliament in his defence, notably 500 dockers on 23 Apr. and 300 Smithfield Market meat porters on 24 Apr.; the placards of the latter proclaimed 'Keep Britain white' and 'Don't knock Enoch': Guardian, 'Mixed motives of "non-racialist" dock marchers', 24 Apr. 1968. Both greatly disturbed the government. On the former, see PRO, PREM 13/2315, letter to Harold Wilson, 23 Apr. 1968.
22. NOP quoted in LPA, Study Group on Immigration, 'Public opinion and immigration, by Dr. Mark Adams', Jan. 1969.
23. It is frequently claimed that the Kenyan Asians' passports were exempted from 1962 immigration controls.
24. See Ann Dummett and Andrew Nicol, Subjects, citizens, aliens and others (London, 1990), p. 199;
25. Colin Holmes, John Bull's island (Houndmills, 1988), pp. 265-7;
26. David Mason, Race and ethnicity in modem Britain (Oxford, 1995), p. 28;
27. John Solomos, Race and racism in contemporary Britain (London, 1989), p. 54.
28. Others note that the Kenyans were free from immigration control after independence, but they are not clear on whether the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1962, applied to the Asians, and they often imply that the Kenyans' exemption was intentional.
29. See Diro Hiro, Black British, white British (London, 1991), p. 212;
30. Kathleen Paul, Whitewashing Britain (Ithaca, 1997), p. 179.
31. D. A. Seidenberg, Uhuru and the Kenya Indians (NewDelhi, 1983), pp. 3-9.
32. For a history of the Asians in East Africa, see Robert G. Gregory, The south Asians in East Africa (Boulder, 1993).
33. Indian 'coolies' were instrumental to the construction of the Kenyan railway. They were brought to camps along the line, where they lived an isolated existence until the railway was completed. Then, as dictated by their contracts, they returned to India, or they took the option of local discharge from indenture. J. Murray-Brown, Kenyatta (London, 1972), p. 64.
34. Ibid., p. 83.
35. J. S. Mangat, A history of the Asians in East Africa (Oxford, 1969), ch. 1.
36. The phrase 'Jews of Africa', frequently applied to the Asians, has possessed varied connotations. It was originally coined by European settlers as a term of disparagement channelling prejudices commonly held about European Jews against the Asians (Seidenberg, Uhuru, p. 14).
37. Following the expulsions of Asians from East Africa, the phrase has been closer to an expression of sympathy, linking the irrational bigotry aimed at a successful European minority (and its ultimate consequence) with that experienced by the East African Asians.
38. Quoted in Mangat, History, p. 22.
39. In practice, the matter was complicated by the efforts of the dependencies and Dominions to introduce local citizenship, both as an end in itself and as a mechanism for controlling the movement of other British subjects through their territories. For a discussion of this, see Dummett and Nicol, Subjects, ch. 7.
40. On British imperial/constitutional history, see Clive Parry, Nationality and citizenship laws of the Commonwealth and of the republic of Ireland (London, 1957).
41. I discuss these in Randall Hansen, 'The politics of citizenship in 1940s Britain: the British nationality act', Twentieth Century British History, 10 (1999), pp. 67-95.
42. Kenyan constitution, section 2 (5). From 1948 until 1981, British citizenship was formally entitled 'citizenship of the United Kingdom and colonies'. The nationality status (though not the same rights after 1962) was shared by Britons and 'colonial' subjects. In this text, I use the terms 'CUKC, British citizenship, and British passport interchangeably.
43. 10, 000 of these were in the last month (Donald Rothchild, Racial bargaining in independent Kenya (London, 1973), p. 188). Statistics on the Asian presence in Kenya were inadequately kept, so these figures should be viewed as conservative estimates.
44. In fact, at least part of the Asian elite in Kenya supported the independence movement. The African nationalist elite, 'however, was unwilling to accept Asians as equal partners in the independence movement. See Mangat, History, ch. 6, and, on the Freedom Party, Seidenberg, Uhum, ch. 7.
45. This suspicion reflected in part the division of labour in Kenya. As the colony developed, Asians assumed the role of'middlemen' purchasing African farmers' goods and selling them in large urban markets. As the African farmers never met the consumers who bought their product, they easily believed that the Asians were reaping huge profits at their expense. These feelings seemed to be confirmed by the Europeans' and Asians' economic progress relative to the African farmers, and the last saw the Asians as the cause of their poverty. Seidenberg, Uhuru, pp. 12-13.
46. On the role of the British in creating this stratification, see Okwudiba Nnoli, Ethnic politics in Nigeria (Enugu, Nigeria, 1978), ch. 1.
47. Donald Rothchild, 'Citizenship and national integration: the non-African crisis in Kenya', in Studies in race and nations (Center on International Race Relations, University of Denver working papers), 1/3 (1969-70), p. 1.
48. Robert. G. Gregory, Quest for equality (New Delhi, 1993), p. 99.
49. Under the Kenyan constitution (discussed below), Asians (and all others) born in Kenya to at least one parent born there become automatic Kenyan citizens (Rothchild, Racial, p. 40). Citizenship, did not provide a full guarantee against discrimination, as many Asians suspected it would not. In addition, non-Africans with citizenship were at times denied permits, and a number of Asians were stripped of their citizenship and deported stateless for having 'shown themselves by act and speech to be disloyal and disaffected towards Kenya [section 8 (1) (a) of the Kenyan constitution]'.
50. See Rothchild, 'Citizenship', p. 20.
51. Gregory, Quest, p. 99.
52. Dummett and Nicol, Subjects,. p. 199.
53. For a discussion of the Asians' ability to carry on in Kenya despite Africanization, see Robert L. Tignor, Capitalism and nationalism at the end of empire (Princeton, 1998), chs. 10 and 11.
54. David Himbara, Kenyan capitalists, the state, and development (Boulder, 1994), pp. 116-17.
55. India was in fact suspicious of their permanent entry, particularly in large numbers. PRO, PREM 13/2157, notes of meeting between Colonial Office and T. N. Kaul, Indian Foreign Secretary, 20 Feb. 1968.
56. Home Office statistics cited in the Times, 'Citizens from Kenya', 16 Feb. 1968.
57. Ibid..
58. Richard Crossman, The diaries of a cabinet minister, II (London, 1976), p. 526.
59. Ibid..
60. John Campbell, Roy Jenkins (London, 1983), p. 93.
61. James Callaghan, Time and chance (London, 1987), pp. 214-25.
62. Ibid., p. 222.
63. Morgan, Callaghan, p. 274.
64. Callaghan, Time, p. 264.
65. Dummett and Nicol, Subjects, p. 200.
66. See the public opinion poll, Gallup, Coloured people in Britain (London, 1982), question 56, and NOP (quoted in LPA, Study Group on Immigration, 'Public opinion and immigration, by Dr. Mark Adams', Jan. 1969) indicating 72 and 69 per cent support, respectively.
67. Also see, Callaghan, Time, p. 267. To be sure, the public is constituted in part by politicians whose privileged position may allow them to shape it. Another politician more beholden to abstract principles might have attempted to move public opinion in the direction of a more migrant-friendly stance. None the less, there can be little doubt that Callaghan's actions enjoyed the support, as measured by public opinion data, of a majority of Britons in the late 1960s.
68. See Crossman, Diaries, p. 679.
69. Ibid..
70. PRO, CAB 129/135, Home Secretary's memorandum C (68) 34, 12 Feb. 1968.
71. Ibid., annex to Callaghan's memorandum, 12 Feb. 1968.
72. Ibid., Commonwealth Secretary's memorandum C (68) 35, 12 Feb. 1968.
73. Crossman, Diaries, p. 685.
74. Barbara Castle, The Castle diaries, 1964-1970 (London, 1984), p. 377;
75. Times, 'Rapid rise in influx from Africa', 16 Feb. 1968.
76. Castle, Diaries, p. 377;
77. PRO, PREM 13/2157, telegram from Macdonald, 19 Feb. 1968.
78. PRO, CAB 129/136, Home Secretary's memorandum on East African Asians C (68) 39, 21 Feb. 1968.
79. Castle, Diaries, p. 377.
80. Ibid., p. 378.
81. Ibid., pp. 377-8.
82. Interview with Peter Shore, Sept. 1995.
83. CPA, LCC 68/218, 'Leader's consultative committee', 21 Feb. 1968. Macleod made it clear that he would vote against the bill.
84. Hansard (Commons) (759), col. 661, 22 Feb. 1968.
85. Times, '4, 000 expected on extra flights', 24 Feb. 1968.
86. Margaret Thatcher, The path to power (London, 1995), p. 145;
87. CPA, LCC 68/219, 'Leader's consultative committee', 27 Feb, 1968.
88. Thatcher, The path, p. 145.
89. Edward Boyle papers, the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds, MS 660/28031, letter from Edward Boyle to A. J. Doherty, 27 Feb. 1968.
90. Hansard (Commons) (759), cols. 1241-368, 27 Feb. 1968 and col. 1917, 1 Mar. 1968.
91. Those Asians who left Kenya after 1 Mar. 1968 without an entry certificate were refused entry to the UK and had no right to return to Kenya. As a result, individuals were jetted back and forth between the two countries until the Home Office secured Kenyan agreement to accept the return of Asians without certificates. Interview with a Home Office official, Aug. 1995.
92. Gallup, which tracked public attitudes from 1958 to 1982 (Coloured people in Britain (London, 1982)), found consistent majority support for immigration restrictions. Support for the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1962, ranged from 62 per cent to 76 per cent (question 35);
93. support for 'a strict limitation on the number of immigrants' from the Commonwealth was 87 per cent in 1965 (question 50);
94. support for the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1968, was 72 per cent (question 56);
95. and support for the Immigration Act, 1971, was 59 per cent, with 25 per cent not knowing (question 85).
96. In 1968, The Times and the Spectator accused the government of shirking an obligation willingly accepted by the British government in 1962.
97. See The Times, 'Hasty law makes bad cases', 23 Feb. 1968
98. and the Spectator, 'A shameful and unnecessary act', 1 Mar. 1968.
99. Times, 'Demonstrator tears up her British passport', 26 Feb. 1968.
100. E. J. B. Rose et al., Colour and citizenship (London, 1969), p. 522.
101. Times, 'Race relations work put back 10 years!', 2 Mar. 1968. Only two resignations in fact occurred. Richard Titmuss claims to have played a role in this, cynically admitting to the government that he made a 'melodramatic' statement to the press in order to retain the confidence of black members of NCCI. PRO, PREM 13/2157, letter from the lord president of the council to Harold Wilson, 8 Mar. 1968.
102. PRO, CAB 129/135, 'Memorandum by the secretary of state for the Home Department', C (68) 34, 12 Feb. 1968. Callaghan, Time, pp. 264-5.
103. The attorney general noted in a memorandum to the cabinet that the European Commission on Human Rights (which first hears individual petitions) or the European Court of Human Rights might deem the legislation a violation of article three of the fourth protocol (right of a national to enter his/her territory) or article eight (right to respect for family life). He noted, however, that the UK had not ratified the protocol, and that, though it would be a 'serious step', the government could simply refuse to obey the committee of ministers (which receives the Commission's report) or the Court. PRO, CAB 129/135, attorney general's memorandum on the immigration legislation, C (68) 36, 14 Feb. 1968.
104. The case did not reach the European Court of Human Rights because the UK did not challenge the decision. In February 1975, Roy Jenkins, again Home Secretary, raised the quota to approximately 5, 000 individuals per year with the goal of speeding the Asians' entry to the UK.
105. For the European Commission's decision, see 'East African Asians v. United Kingdom', European Human Rights Reports, 3 (1981), pp. 76-103. I owe my thanks to Lord Lester of Heme Hill QC for clarifying this issue.
106. Following John Goldthorpe, I define the 'working class' as rank and file manual employees in industry and agriculture. From the early 1980s, Social and Community Planning Research has undertaken an annual survey of British social attitudes. In a 1988 study of 'working-class authoritarianism', the researchers found disproportionately illiberal attitudes among workingclass respondents on homosexuality and the death penalty (though not on sex discrimination legislation).
107. See Roger Jowell et al., eds. British social attitudes: the 5th report (Aldershot, 1988), pp. 56-7. A 1984 study of attitudes towards sexual morality found intolerance of homosexuality and homosexuals greatest among older respondents and those in manual occupations (though they were hardly strikingly liberal among other groups).
108. See Roger Jowell and Colin Airey, eds., British social attitudes : the 1984 report (Aldershot, 1984), pp. 136-9.
109. In early March 1968, Gallup asked 'Do you approve or disapprove of the measures the Government are taking in controlling immigration from Commonwealth countries?' 72 per cent approved; 21 per cent disapproved; and 7 per cent did not know. Gallup, Coloured people in Britain (London, 1982). NOP asked 'Do you think the Government was right or wrong to introduce the new immigration bill?' 79 per cent thought it was right; 15 per cent thought it was wrong; and 6 per cent did not know. The belief was strongest among the working class and those over fifty-five. NOP, 'Public opinion'.
110. On this, see Morgan, Callaghan.
111. Interview with Peter Shore, Sept. 1995.
112. Daily Telegraph, 4 Feb. 1968.
113. E. Powell, speech made at Walsall, 9 Feb. 1968. Reproduced in full in B. Smithies and P. Fiddick, Enoch Powell on immigration (London, 1969), pp. 19-22.
114. Cleverly, Macleod sent the letter before the next shadow cabinet meeting (21 Feb. 1968), but - because of printing time - it did not appear until after the meeting (23 Feb. 1968). Macleod was able to criticize the shadow cabinet's call for 'phasing the entry of these immigrants' without being accused of either (a) attempting to influence the shadow cabinet decision by speaking in advance of it or (b) violating collective solidarity by breaking with the decision afterwards. R. Shepherd, Iain Macleod (London, 1995), p. 495.
115. Spectator, 23 Feb. 1968, pp. 225-6.
116. Parliamentary Debates (Commons), (759), col. 1274, 27 Feb. 1968.
117. Callaghan, Time and chance, p. 264. The term 'loophole' was used frequently at the time. David Steel, who claimed that' [n]ever has such a mischievous and misguided piece of legislation been introduced into Parliament and then steamrollered through in record time as the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1968, 'agrees with Callaghan's interpretation.
118. See David Steel, No entry (London, 1969), p. 63 (quotation from the preface).
119. Interview with Enoch Powell, Aug. 1995.
120. Those writing on the Kenyan Asians' episode generally accept Macleod's argument that promises were made to the Asian community, but provide no evidence to support this claim. See, for example, Spencer, British, p. 142.
121. The Kenyan constitution, section 1. This citizenship scheme was in fact more inclusive than that which Kenya originally wanted. Kenya, like Uganda before it, first proposed a citizenship scheme granting citizenship only to Africans. The British government, notably the Commonwealth Relations and the Colonial Office, insisted on its modification.
122. See PRO, HO 344/177, letter from J. M. Ross to Governor's Office, Nairobi, 26 Aug. 1963.
123. The Kenyan constitution, section 12.
124. Ibid., section 2 (4).
125. Ibid., section 9 (1) and (2).
126. Section 2 (1) of the Kenya Independence Act, 1963, added Kenya to the list of section 1 (3) countries of the British Nationality Act, 1948 (for the independent Commonwealth countries). From 1963, Kenyans were considered as CICCs by the British Nationality Act of 1948. In addition, Kenya did not tolerate dual nationality, and it would have been impossible to be both a CUKC and a Kenyan citizen.
127. Callaghan, Time, p. 264.
128. The British Nationality Act, 1964, section 1 (1) (a) and (A).
129. For papers concerning the setders in Kenya, see PRO, HO 213/1685.
130. Given the strength of the 'settler lobby' within the Conservative party in the 1960s, intuition suggests that the eyes of the Conservative government in 1963 and 1964 were on the fate of Europeans, their 'kith' and kin', within Kenya, and not on that of the Asians. During the second reading of the Kenya Independence Bill, very little was said about the Asians.
131. See Parliamentary Debates (Commons), (684), cols. 1329-400, 22 Nov. 1963. Sandys discussed the opportunity (enshrined in the British Nationality Act of 1964) for Britons to reclaim CUKC status after its renunciation (cols. 1393-4); no mention was made of the Asians as such.
132. Interview with Lord Merlyn Rees, Dec. 1995, PRO, HO 213/1704, 'Draft note as a basis for a submission to Ministers', 18 Aug. 1952, 'British Nationality Act, 1948', undated.
133. Interview with Sir Geoffrey Otton (retired Home Office official), Aug. 1995.
134. PRO, HO 213/2292, 'Background note for the minister of state. Position under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of citizens of the United Kingdom and colonies who do not acquire citizenship of Uganda on Independence Day', undated.
135. PRO, HO 344/177, letter from G. Otton to Sandars, 26 Feb. 1968.
136. Ibid., letter from W. F. G. Le Bailly to H. S. H. Stanley, 1 Nov. 1963.
137. Although estimates were unreliable, it was thought that some 20, 000 Asians in South Africa, 25, 000 in Tanganyika (Tanzania after 1961), and 200, 000 in Kenya were in this situation. PRO, CO 1032/322, extract of a letter from Cleary to Ross, Home Office, 28 Nov. 1961.
138. PRO, CO 1032/303, working party on Commonwealth immigration: 'Citizenship in relation to the Commonwealth Immigrants Bill', undated, and PRO, CO 1032/303, working party on Commonwealth immigration: 'Memorandum by the Home Office', 24 Mar. 1961.
139. Dummett and Nicol, Subjects, p. 199;
140. Holmes, John, pp. 265-7;
141. Mason, Race, p. 28;
142. Solomos, Race, p. 54.
143. A Home Office leaflet restates the position: any individual who (a) is born in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man and is a citizen of the UK and colonies, the Irish Republic or a Commonwealth country or (b) is a CUKC holding a passport issued by (i) British passport offices in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man, (ii) a UK diplomatic or consular officer in a foreign country, (iii) a British High Commissioner or Deputy High Commissioner in a Commonwealth country, (iv) the UK Commissioner in Singapore, or (v) the representative of the United Kingdom government in any protected state, in Zanzibar, the New Hebrides, or Canton Island will not be subject to immigration control 'except where such a passport is endorsed to the effect that it has been issued on behalf of the government of a Commonwealth country or the government of a colony or protectorate' (emphasis added). The leaflet added a note stating that 'A passport issued by the government of a colony or protectorate will not give the holder a right of entry into the United Kingdom.'
144. See Admission of Commonwealth citizens to the United Kingdom, leaflet IMI, Apr. 1962.
145. In practice, this often related to location of issue - most passports issued under the authority of the United Kingdom would be issued in London, while most dependent subjects' passports would be issued in the colonies. There were exceptions, however, such as a London-born Briton renewing a passport in Hong Kong while travelling overseas, or a Hong Kong student renewing a passport in London while a student in the UK. In the latter case, the passport would be stamped to the effect of 'issued on behalf of the overseas territory of Hong Kong'. As such, it would be subject to immigration control.
146. PRO, CO 1032/322, extract of a letter from Cleary to Ross, Home Office, 28 Nov. 1961.
147. The analogous situation of Asians in Uganda, Tanganyika, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Ghana was also recognized. PRO, HO 213/2292, 'Background note for the minister of state. Position under the (Commonwealth Immigrants Act of citizens of the United Kingdom and colonies who do not acquire citizenship of Uganda on Independence Day', undated.
148. PRO, HO 344/177, letter from H. S. H. Stanley to H. K. Hickman, 8 Oct. 1968.
149. PRO, CO 1032/322, Savingram from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the officer 'administering the government of Kenya, 26 Nov. 1962. Sandys became Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and Secretary of State for the Colonies following the 'night of long knives', 12-13 July 1962, when Macmillan sacked seven full members of the cabinet as well as four junior members.
150. Himbara, Kenyan capitalists, p. 116.
151. See the note from the Kenyan High Commissioner to Sandys discussing it. PRO, HO 344/177, telegram from Malcolm Macdonald to the Colonial Secretary, 26 Oct. 1963.
152. PRO, PREM 13/2157, letter from George Thomson to Duncan Sandys, 20 Feb. 1968.
153. PRO, CAB 134/1468, Commonwealth immigration committee meeting, 7 Nov. 1963.
154. Also see ibid., cabinet memorandum by the Home Secretary on the Asians' position, 30 Oct. 1963. Quoting the Home Secretary: 'It is...out of the question not to accord normal passport facilities to United Kingdom citizens of Asian origin in independent African States, with the object of rendering them subject to our immigration control. Such action would be, and would be seen to be, a discrimination based on racial origin, and would be tantamount to a denial to these persons of one of the basic rights of a citizen, namely to enter the country of which he is a citizen. 'Also see PRO, HO 344/177, letter to L. E. T. Storar, undated, and ibid., letter to the Secretary of State, undated. The latter outlines the Asians' position exactly as above, and notes that 'the United Kingdom has always acted on the principle in granting independence that we could not abandon such people and make them stateless by withdrawing their citizenship to the United Kingdom and Colonies'.
155. See PRO, PREM 13/2157, 'Asian immigration from Kenya', letter from Burke Trend to Wilson, 21 Feb. 1968.
156. Callaghan defended the bill on these grounds. See the Spectator, 'A shameful and unnecessary act', 1 Mar. 1968.
157. PRO, CAB 129/135, 'Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Home Department', C (68), 34, 12 Feb. 1968.
158. Callaghan, Time, p. 267.
159. This is a controversial statement; the relationship between immigration control, on the one hand, and racism and race relations, on the other, has been a matter of debate for decades.
160. For those taking the contrary position, see E. J. B. Rose et al., Colour and citizenship: a report on British race relations (London, 1969), p. 228
161. and S. Saggar, Race and politics in Britain (London, 1992), p. 175.
162. Also see Robert Miles, Racism and migrant labour (London, 1982);
163. Solomos, Race;
164. John Solomos and Les Back, Racism and Society (Houndmills, 1996), ch. 1.
165. See also Sarah Spencer, 'The implications of immigration policy for race relations', in Sarah Spencer, ed., Strangers and citizens: a positive approach to migrants and refugees (London, 1994). The issue is not of central importance to this article, but it is worth noting that, for all the arguments about migration controls' role in legitimating racism, attitudes to ethnic minorities in Britain have improved considerably since restrictions were first applied to Commonwealth immigration in the 1960s.
166. th report (Aldershot, 1995), pp. 201-4.
167. I20 Now the British National Party.
168. It should be noted, however, that the nadir in race relations - following Powell's 1968 speech - came after the act, not before. In his memoirs, Callaghan fudges with the chronology, and suggests that the government was responding to the extremism encouraged by Powell's intervention. Callaghan, Time and chance, p. 267.
169. Callaghan conceded this point when he admitted later that if Kenyatta did not allow the Asians physically to remain in Kenya, Britain could not refuse them entry. Shepherd, Iain Macleod, p. 498.