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[Mr. Whitelaw.] be blocked. Despite these firm measures, I can
assure the House that there is nothing whatever in these proposals which affects the rights of people law- fully settled to remain in this country.
From what I have said to the House this afternoon, it must be clear that the changes in the rules in the Government's White Paper go far wider than some of the particular provisions that have aroused most interest and controversy in recent weeks.
Mr. Douglas-Mann: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The right hon. Gentleman is presenting proposals on the basis that they comply with manifesto commitments and on the basis-
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. We are dealing not with manifesto commitments but with the Bill.
Mr. Douglas-Mann: My point of order is that the Home Secretary is not being candid about the implications of his pro- posals, in particular in relation to the impact of the proposals on dependants who will be totally banned because-
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. That is a matter for debate, it is not a point of order.
Mr. Whitelaw: A comprehensive re vision is essential because, save in respect of husbands and fiances, the rules have remained substantially unchanged since 1973. In today's circumstances, and with six years' experience of operating the rules behind us, it is clear that consider- able changes are necessary, if not over- due. The combined effect of this revision should be to produce a more practical, effective and reasonable set of instruc- tions to which the immigration service can work in the often thankless, but highly important task which successive Governments and Parliaments have laid upon them.
The measures which have proved controversial, relating principally to hus- bands and fiances, must surely be seen against the background of the commit- ments into which this country entered, to which it has held, and to which it will continue to hold, in the interests of
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uniting wives and children overseas with their heads of families already settled here. Moreover, this country's response, not least in recent months, to catastrophe and suffering overseas and to the refugee problems that that has created, has been and continues to be a most honourable one.
But I believe that the whole country— and this House-accepts that a limit had to be drawn somewhere. In this White Paper, the Government have sought to achieve a reasonable and practical answer to this most difficult question.
I know that there are those who, ac-
cepting in many cases that basic conclu- sion, none the less believe genuinely that the control of immigration can be wholly separated from the question of develop- ing better race relations. But the general view of successive Governments of both parties has been, ever since the first Commonwealth immigration controls in 1962, that tighter controls have been necessary in the face of continued immi- gration pressures. They have taken that view because of the impossibility of ad- vancing the cause of better race relations when public anxieties about further pri- mary immigration are so strong.
We must, as a nation seek to deal with the problem thoroughly and in a way that will carry public confidence and accept- ance. Only by doing so will we be able effectively to tackle the great challenge of improving race relations. Nor can we afford to wait, for we are moving into a period when increasingly we are dealing not with immigrants who have come here from overseas, but with our own fellow citizens who were born here. They are not immigrants, nor should we speak of them or treat them as if they were. The Government's proposals are founded on that.
On behalf of the Government, I should like to restate the policy to which I have consistently referred, both before taking office and since coming into Government. We are as a Government positively com- mitted to improving race relations. I have referred to that work as a challenge, and it is one to which we in the House, and the whole country, must respond.
4.44 pm
I
Mr. Merlyn Rees (Leeds, South): beg to move, to leave out from “House "
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to the end stead there
' declines to Immigration violates the British citize before the or creed.'
The valu other deba the years i fluence the the rules. tary has s views whic that we sho the notice d anomalies which we d changes wi appear in t Many h pondence a that many P ster when she said tha But statisti
Mr. Grev Will my rig
Mr. Rees wish to adv The figur not being sw the total ef In terms of migration th relevant. I many peopl since believ found chang not. In the very small i
candle to m thing much That is wron ways.
Mr. Ton North): Th lieves that i country to swamped. answer today Home Office 353,000 Iran asked him fu the country [Interruption
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