TNAG-0094-FCO40-130-Control-of-immigration-into-UK-from-Hong-Kong-1968 — Page 47

BRIEF

3⁄4/6

Minister of State, Lord Shepherd

MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE ON COMMONWEALTH

IMMIGRATION

Preta of Employment Vouchers for the UK

Dependent Territories

A memorandum by the Commonwealth Secretary

is attached and is to be considered at a

meeting of the Ministerial Committee on

Monday, 13 November.

Background

The Official Committee on Commonwealth

Immigration considered on the 3 August a paper

which proposed that the total quota for

Commonwealth immigrants should be increased by

1,000, from 8,500 to 9,500 a year, and of

this a quota of 1,300 a year should be set

aside for the dependent territories. This

proposal received a hostile reception and was

not approved. The chief objection was the

present level of unemployment in the United

Kingdom and the difficulty of getting across

to the public proposals to increase

immigration.

Subsequently we suggested that the quota

ahould be found from within a total figure and

not be made additional to it. Initially there

was objection to this because it would mean

reducing the number of vouchers issued to

immigrants from the independent Commonwealth

countries and this would cause considerable

resentment