Printed for the Cabinet. October 1955
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SECRET
C.P. (55) 166
29th October, 1955
CABINET
Copy No. 68
COLONIAL IMMIGRANTS
MEMORANDUM BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT AND MINISTER For Welsh AFFAIRS
On 15th September the Cabinet invited me to circulate a draft Bill to control Colonial immigration, as a basis for discussion at a later meeting (C.M. (55) 31st Conclusions, Minute 4). Following the Cabinet's discussion on 6th December, 1954, C.C. (54) 82nd Conclusions, Minute 7, a draft Bill for this purpose had already been prepared and I circulate the Bill and an accompanying memorandum. The Bill includes within its scope all British subjects from overseas, and if it is decided to proceed with it, decisions will be needed on two major questions, viz. (a) whether any legislation to control the immigration of persons not belonging to the United Kingdom should apply to all British subjects from overseas or only to those from the Colonies; and (b) whether in either case citizens of the Irish Republic should also be made subject to control.
2. The main argument in favour of confining a control to British subjects from the Colonies is that it is the arrival in the United Kingdom in rapidly increasing numbers in recent years of Colonial immigrants, particularly from the 'West Indies, which has given rise to public concern and has created the social problems, mainly housing ones, to which, so long as no control over immigration can be exercised, there appears to be no solution; and that to make the control general would be unnecessary and would cause dismay and resentment in the older Dominions. The main arguments in favour of extending the control to all British subjects from overseas are (a) that while a general control of immigration can be effectively defended on principle a limitation to Colonial citizens could not be so defended, would be vulnerable to attack as a measure of racial discrimination and would be bitterly resented in the West Indies; (b) that a control applying only to citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies would become increasingly ineffective as Colonies achieved full independence and established their own separate citizenships; and (c) that if there is to be any control it would be unwise to exclude from its scope immigration from India and Pakistan which might easily become a serious problem. It would presumably be out of the question to extend the control to those two alone of the self-governing countries of the Commonwealth.
3. Political objections to excluding citizens of the Irish Republic from an immigration control applying to any class of British subjects are obvious, but there is a strong case, based on the facts of geography and history as well as on practical considerations, for treating the population of the British Islands as a single unit. The institution of an immigration control on the ordinary traffic between Great Britain and Ireland, which would be necessary if the control were applied to all citizens of the Irish Republic, would give rise to great inconvenience and would be much resented by the inhabitants of Northern Ireland who would have to carry passports.
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