Clause 1. — (Application of Part I.)

Part of Orders of the Day — Commonwealth Immigrants Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 December 1961.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mr Peter Walker Mr Peter Walker , Worcester 12:00, 6 December 1961

If it were the intention of Her Majesty's Government to stop emigration from the countries mentioned in these Amendments I, personally, would support the Amendments. But that is not the intention of the Government. Their intention is to introduce some form of control over emigration from these countries.

Let me make it perfectly clear that, personally, I hope that the rate of emigration from these countries will be as high as possible. I feel that we are faced with a tremendous task at present in trying to relieve unemployment in the Colonial Territories and to help as many as possible of their nationals to obtain training in this country. But it is to the advantage of the people concerned to have some form of control over their emigration to this country.

We have already heard of the problems created by immigrants going only to isolated areas in this country where housing problems are very great and how much better it would be if they could be spread to a greater degree throughout the country. I suggest that the important point at issue is how the Bill is to be interpreted in the future. If. over the coming years, we find that its provisions are used to prevent immigration from these countries, I hope that when we review the Bill in subsequent years, as we shall be able to do, we shall rescind the Measure.

Provided we find that under the Bill people are allowed to come here from these countries under reasonable control, and are assisted in every way, I believe that the Bill could do a great deal of good for the Commonwealth. I invite my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to say how he considers that people of these Commonwealth countries are to hear of the opportunities to obtain employment here.

The hon. Member for Birmingham, Small Heath (Mr. Denis Howell) raised some interesting points concerning the working of these labour vouchers. I hope that the Government will establish some form of Commonwealth employment bureaux attached to our offices in the Commonwealth countries so that people may know what opportunities are available to them here. I hope also that my right hon. Friend will make available to these offices details of the maximum number of vacancies available in this country. Unless this is done, there could be the danger of a nasty, vicious black market being created in the obtaining of labour vouchers by people in these territories.

There is a very important issue at stake, because if we can use the Bill to encourage sensible emigration from these African and Asian countries, in particular, to the United Kingdom it could do a great deal of good. Is it my right hon. Friend's intention under the controlled immigration which will result from the Bill to look into the position as far as housing accommodation is concerned when these people come to this country with labour vouchers?

We shall have the position that people coming from abroad, with or without labour vouchers, will cause a great problem from the housing point of view in those areas where there are employment vacancies, because it is in those very areas where a lack of labour force exists that we get the worst housing problem. It is important that if the Bill is to work in a sensible way, and is to control immigration from these Commonwealth countries, some arrangement should be made with the local authorities to make suitable provision for housing those who come here.

There are some aspects of the Bill about which I am very unhappy, because there is the possibility of it being interpreted as a racial Measure. I believe that this Committee has no greater duty than to try to make the experiment of a multi-racial Commonwealth a success. Anxiety has been expressed from both sides of the Committee on this issue.

If my right hon. Friend can say that the numbers of those coming to this country under a system of controlled immigration will be as high as possible, that they will have facilities of knowing in their own countries the number of employment vacancies here and will also have certain social amenities provided for them, then the Commonwealth will see that the Bill could, in fact, assist it and not hamper it.