IMMIGRATION CONTROL FOR FURTHER. YEAR

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30602, 19 November 1964, Page 17

IMMIGRATION CONTROL FOR FURTHER. YEAR

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) LONDON, November 18. The House of Commons, after an explosive row on a race issue, agreed today to continue control of immigration from the Commonwealth for another year. Amid angry exchanges, a Labour Goverment member called Sir Alec Douglas-Home “a political coward.”

Mr Ray Gunter, the Minister for Labour, announced during the debate that the Government was taking a careful look into the whole system of control, including the voucher scheme for Commonwealth migrants.

He said the Government was already in touch with Commonwealth Governments about consultation on this subject.

The political bombshell that is Smethwick, Britain’s midlands industrial town with a big coloured immigrant population, set off the row as the debate wound up early today.

The debate ended with no vote, as both the Government and the Opposition agree on control, though differing over the method.

The 1962 act of Parliament controlling immigration has to be renewed each year.

A Labour member, Mr Michael Foot, drew loud Government cheers as he told the House that the Prime Minister had condemned a colour bar in Smethwick by a club indirectly associated with the Labour Party.

He discussed the General Election campaign, in which Labour’s Foreign Secretary, Mr Patrick Gordon Walker, was unseated in Smethwick by a Conservative. M.- Foot said: “We are still waiting to discover whether the leader of the Conservative Party condemns what happened in Smethwick.” Mr Foot quoted from a newspaper report of October 13 when it was stated that during the election campaign there were three rumours in Smethwick about Mr Gordon Walker—that his daughter had married a black man: that he had sold his home at Smethwick to the blacks; and that two secret leper hospitals were being built in that town. “Although these rumours

did not contain one word of truth,” Mr Foot said, “some people believed them implicitly.” STICKERS POSTED Quoting further from the report, Mr Foot said that stickers bearing the words “If you want a nigger neighbour vote Liberal or Labour” had been posted up in the town. When an Opposition M.P. shouted: What has this got to do with the Conservative Party? Mr Foot, still reading from the newspaper report, said it was stated—“ln the creation of this electoral atmosphere the Conservative Party at Smethwick has played a leading role.”

Mr Foot said: “The Leader of the Opposition, who prides himself on such straight talks, is such a political coward that he dare not say what he thinks about what happened.” Sir Alec Douglas-Home intervened soon afterwards, saying: “I find your references to me so completely offensive, suggesting that I am in any way concerned in racial discrimination of any kind that I am going to treat them with the contempt they deserve.”

“I can do no more except say there should be no racial discrimination in any circumstances tolerated in my party and. I hope, tolerated in no other party.”

Mr Gunter said that for the present the Government proposed to continue the issue of entry vouchers at the same rate as they had been issued in recent months until they had an opportunity of examining the working of the act. The present position was that applicants in categories “A” and “B”—those going to jobs already arranged and those with special skills and qualifications had com-

pletely crowded out applicants in category “C” vouchers. those without special qualifications. The backlog of category “C” vouchers now was in the region of 300,000. Of these 290.000 were from Pakistan and India. Of closer control, he said the Government would take into account all the facts and the views of the Commonwealth Governments. Mr Gunter said: “Neither the voucher system nor the general system of control under the act have been working completely satisfactorily. “It is for these reasons that we think we must take a very careful look into the whole system of control including the voucher scheme.” Smethwick flared into the debate again at the conclusion when Mr Tom Driberg (Labour) said that the name of Smethwick had been added to the roll of dishonour of place names like Sharpeville and Hola. NO TRACE

Earlier during the debate, Sir Frank Soskice, the Home Secretary and the Minister responsible for the immigration laws, reiterated the Government’s decision to introduce laws to prevent discrimination against coloured people as soon as they could be framed.

The Home Secretary dis-

closed that 31,000 immigrants 1 could not be accounted for. i They had apparently evaded i the control by coming as i visitors or students and stay- '. ing on.

From July 1, 1962, when controls started, until September this year, 120,000 Commonwealth immigrants from the “new Commonwealth countries” (chiefly in Asia, Africa and the West Indies) had come to live in Britain. This was allowing for those who had left. Altogether, he estimated

that Britain had 800,000 immigrants from the Commonwealth, excluding those from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He also disclosed that Mrs

Barbara Castle, the Minister for Overseas Development, would announce proposals directed towards raising the living standards in needy countries from which the immigrants were coming. The British Government was “quite firmly” convinced that effective control was indispensable, he said.