Imigration

People of different ethnic origin moved to London after World War II for many reasons to do with politics, economy, social, cultural and religious factors. In 1945 these people came to London during the war as exiles or as refugees. Thousands of men and women had been recruited into the British armed forces during the war – some of them had served for Britain and were curious to see the country they had fought for.

Many people came to the U.K. to find work during 1945 – 1958. This was very significant as the government needed to recruit people to replenish the workforce, as Britain faced labour shortages after war. These shortages were made worse because many of the inhabitants of Britain were emigrating elsewhere. Workers were recruited from Europe and Britain’s former Empire colonies to help rebuild Britain.

The Polish were the first, mainly as a result of the connections made during the war years. However, more workers were needed. Thousands of refugees living in camps all over Eastern Europe emigrated to Britain during the 1950’s. Another reason for these refugees’s settling in Britain was because they came under special schemes for resettling people after the war

Many people had family who had come over to Britain to help in the war effort, and then had decided to settle in Britain. Lucile Harris came to Britain to join her husband. Some came over to the U.K. purely for the adventure, to make money, to visit relatives and to see the world.

Immigrants were needed for labour, however, their arrival brought about prejudice and racism towards them.

The ‘National Front’ was an organisation that supported racism. Their aim was to end black immigration and send the immigrants back to their country of origin. The NF had a lot of support in the late 1960s – 70s, but then Margaret Thatcher won the vote and came to power. She opposed racism strongly, and the support of the Conservative party grew stronger, and the NF declined.

The riots were provoked by the racism towards black and ethnic communities. For example, the ‘SUS’ law was seen to be extremely racist towards blacks. – It allowed arrest without evidence of crime. This law was widely abused, and the black community campaigned against it. The law was eventually removed, however it didn’t put a stop to the racism.

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