(7) Wilson government - immigration, General Elections - 1966 and 1970

1965 Race Relations act
1. The Race Relations Act of 1965 was the first legislation in the UK to address racial discrimination.
2. The Act outlawed discrimination on the "grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins"
3. It also made it a civil offence to refuse to serve a person, on the "grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins"
1968 Race Relations Act
1. The Act made it illegal to refuse housing, employment, or public services to a person on the "grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins"
2. Its also created the Community Relations Commission to promote "harmonious community relations."
3. The act was criticised for poorly translating "new standards of behaviour" into an effective legal document
The 1968 Commonwealth Immigration Act
1. The Act further modified the rights of citizens of the Commonwealth. It restricted the future right of entry previously enjoyed by citizens of the U.K and colonies, to those born there or who had a least one parent or grandparent born there
2. The Act was superseded by the Immigration Act 1971
3. Labour rushed the Commonwealth Immigrants Bill through parliament in 24 hours. The new law visibly racist. No longer a case of stopping Commonwealth citizens moving to Britain, the act now stopped British citizens if they lacked a "close connection" with the country, this being defined as being born in Britain or descent from a parent or grandparent born in Britain
  1. This resulted in some 150,000 Kenyan Asians were rendered stateless, while white settlers and their families had free access
4. Far from this appeasing the "racists", it encouraged them. Enoch Powell delivered his notorious "river of blood speech" in Birmingham as a response. Wilson government's only response was to pass legilation in 1966 which made it extremely difficult for dependents to come to Britain
The 1966 GE
1. Economy appeared to be in good shape, unemployment was low and standards of living were rising. Price had increased by 9% since 1964 but earnings were up 11%
2. The tories had changed leaders; Douglas Home was replaced by Ted Heath but compared to Wilson he came across as stiff and ill at ease and was regularly outshine by Wilson in the Common
3. Labour Won an By election in hull (due to the Proposed building of Humber Bridge) in January. a election was held in 3 months time
4. The Election outcome
  1. Labour - 13,096,951 votes, 364 seats won and 48% votes
  2. Conservative - 11,418,433 votes, 253 seats won and 41.9% votes
The 1970 GE
1. European Economic Community
  1. Britain applied to join the European Economic Community again in 1967 but again they were vetoed by the french president De Gaulle. All other countries agreed to support Britain entry except france
2. Economy
  1. Wilson was forced t devalue the pound to $2.40 in 1967 which was not a popular move. However after that the economy did begin to pick up and in 169 there was a balance of payments surplus
  2. Exports were down by £45 million on the previous month
3. Party unity
  1. There was a split within the Labour party over the white paper, in place of strife, which was a paper to reduce the power of the trade unions. It was proposed by Barbra Castle the secretary of state for employment and productivity, the proposals were divisions became obvious when the paper was presented. the opposition to Wilson and castle was headed by James Callahan
4. Immigration
  1. Enoch Powell was a central figure within the conservative party, from his constituency of wolverhampton he found the issue of immigration raised, In 1968 he made his river of blood speech, for which Health immediately sacked him from the shadow cabinet due to the racist implications of the speech.
  2. However Powell was considered to be a hero for many working class people, 1000 London dockers marched out in support, Smithfield meat porters and Heathrow airport workers demonstrated in his favour, he also received 20,000 letters largely approving of his stance
5. Harold Wilson V's Edward Heath
  1. There were several similarities between Heath and Wilson; they were the same age they both went to grammer school and then Oxford. However Heath was committed to getting Britain to join the EEC unlike Wilson, Heath also came across a stiff and unrelaxed. He was also perceived as humourless and unfriendly he was also unmarried
6. Election outcome
  1. Conservative - 13,145,123 votes, 330 seats won and 46.4% of the votes
  2. Labour - 12,208,758 votes, 228 seats won and 43.1% of the votes
  3. Conservatives won with an overall majority of 31. The election was the first election where people aged 18 to 20 could vote as well following the representation of the people act in 1969
  4. There was impulsive decision and voting (partly due to the Hot weather) which could have causted the Conservative victory and the bad trade figurines in the last week of the GE
7. Labour poll
  1. The poll had Labour 2.5% to 12.4% a head

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(7) Wilson government - immigration, General Elections - 1966 and 1970

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