Blighty and the UKIP Revolution

[BobHelm]

No they came (27K) to the UK as refugees, not under any Immigration laws. As such the UK could have refused them entry.
Other countries (mainly Commonwealth, but not exclusively) took about 15K. About 20K just disappeared...

[trubrit]

I presume both BH and Prenders are repeating what they have read on the subject as neither are old enough to have a factual memory of the time .Let me tell you, I was there, saw it happening and this is how I remember it .History in the making not from the movies.
On the 22nd of June 1948 the MV Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury. It was carrying 492 Afro-Carribean immigrants. They had been recruited by agents in Trinidad acting for the British Rail and London Transport to fill the many vacancies causing problems in the transport system they had in the aftermath of the war .They had been provided with British passports and guaranteed employment before leaving .The newsreels of the time showed them disembarking carrying all their worldly possessions in just a small suitcase to start their new life .It was not a source of cheap labour as they were paid the same going rate as the locals which had been negotiated with the unions of the time .They had all been given a clothing allowance to buy suitable ware for the climate here .So it came as rather a shock for many of us who had never seen a black skinned person before, apart from the occasional US military personnel billeted here during the war.
The event has been commemorated in June ever since and a major garden square has been named Windrush Gardens .
All this coincided with the introduction of the 1948 Nationality Act to give the many Commonwealth citizens that had supported us during the war .

http://www.digjamaica.com/windrush_65

[BobHelm]

No certainly not personally witnessed TB.
However you are incorrect that the group you mention were the first.

The major examples of official government recruitment schemes were firstly a group of 1,200 British Hondurians who were recruited to fell timber in Scotland. Secondly, about 1,000 West Indian technicians and trainees who were recruited for service in munitions factories in Merseyside and Lancashire. Mr Learie Constantine, later Lord Constantine, was employed by the Minister of Labour as welfare officer to look after this group of men during their war service. Thirdly, 10,000 West Indians were recruited for service in the Royal Air Force to work in Britain as ground crews. Finally, thousands of colonial seamen were either recruited or voluntarily enlisted in the Merchant Navy. Some of these were based at British ports.

These were from 7 years before the incident you quote...
If anyone is interested in the history of the subject, & it is pretty much how I explained in my post then here is a link to the historical data for the UK...
http://www.historytoday.com/zig-henry/n ... ts-1945-62

[trubrit]

They were the first to be given citizenship. All those helping us during the war had no entitlement to stay after the war and were repatriated to their home countries, as you will see mentioned further down in the article you linked .
Commonwealth citizens were not entitled to claim British nationality until the Nationality Act of 1948., but admittedly that act was passed because of their contribution during the war .I find the statistics mentioned in that article highly questionable, especially the 10 thousand serving as ground crew in the RAF. I enlisted in '53, serving with many officers that had been in during the war years and the only Common Wealth members I encountered were some Sth African air crew.

[JimboPSM]

I did some research a few years ago and found that the UK Government by sticking with the GBP and not joining the EUR when it had the opportunity had, in foreign exchange terms, cost UK citizens (with GBP assets such as pensions) well over 10%.

The UK Government was strongly supported in this by the usual suspects – the Euro-sceptics, anti-Europe bigots, other small minded little Englanders and the Murdoch Misinformation Media empire.

If the 10%+ figure I calculated then were still to be correct today, it would mean that Brits would now be getting the equivalent of over 60 Baht to the pound

If I have the time and inclination (I do have a multitude of other interests) I’ll revisit my research to produce a more up to date figure – however, my gut feeling (for what it’s worth) is that it is still in excess of 10%.

[pimples]

Poles start up car washing businesses at 5 quid a spray and seem to be doing ok in the UK .the numbers of east europeans in the UK is now alarming hence the march of UKIP . the numbers of foreign house buyers in LONDON means that the locals cant afford to buy anywhere or even find a small hovel to live in. or theyre left empty for 10 years and then they cash in and sell them . houses cant be built fast enough to house half of europe .

[Laan Yaa Mo]

So, how did the anti-Eu parties throughout Europe, and in particular the UKIP, perform in the election?

[pimples]

theyre all on a role esp in France as the EU has major unemployment problems now

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Thanks.

So they must have won some seats.

[pimples]

a lot ^

slimeball Blair has spoken out

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/blair-brands- ... ml#OHppmy1

[Laan Yaa Mo]

The Immigration policy into the UK was very much set by the right of politics, rather than the left as you claim Paul.

Asians ex Uganda in 1972 under Uncle Ted (Conservative).
The influx of West Africans & Asians into the UK started under Winston Churchill (Conservative) in the war years.
Indeed the Labour (left wing) Government after the war went to great lengths to recruit Europeans to fill vacant jobs. They virtually killed Immigration from the Commonwealth despite labour shortages.
It was during the 1950s & early 1960s that the greatest influx occurred. This was under the Governments of
Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan & Sir Alec Douglas-Home - all Conservatives of the old, right wing school.
By the time they had done the die was cast & set. Once things like Immigration have occurred there is no return to what was before, whatever the desire!!

Churchill, Winston, was a Liberal at one time and under Asquith initiated some very progressive legislation re: pensions and unemployment insurance.

[pimples]

Daily Record
5 hours ago - Google+

NIGEL Farage promised to shake up the #independence debate last night after #UKIP took their first seat in #Scotland. The anti-EU and anti-immigration party shook British #politics to its core by taking the biggest share of the #Euroelection votes in England and coming second in Wales.
Gloating Nigel Farage vows to shake up independence referendum after UKIP's...

[mally]

Well the results have certainly got a reaction from the "establishment" !
UKIP got 28% of the votes (more than any other party) and became the largest UK party in Europe, a result mirrored in France where the National Front (another anti EU party) got 25% of the votes. Result - Cameron rushed to meet other EU leaders with the message that there had to be drastic reforms to counter the anti EU surge spreading.
Now, if this results in the immigration policy being tightened up then the protest votes will have been proved to be the right course of action.
I'm amazed that the Labour leader (Milliband) thinks that this will not be an issue in the forthcoming UK elections and that he'll not be including it in his electioneering ! Methinks this protest will not go away until real change is carried out.

[pimples]

Cameron might have to do a pact with UKIP if he wants to get back in again or labour will get in by default its been suggsted

the TV debates between Farage and clegg did clegg damage as he was seen to be a buffoon

[BobHelm]

Churchill, Winston, was a Liberal at one time and under Asquith initiated some very progressive legislation re: pensions and unemployment insurance.

Churchill, for all his skill as a leader in the time of crisis during the Second World War, was an opportunist as a politician.

Ask working class people in Wales if they believed that he was a 'Liberal' (with a small or a large L) & the answer would be an emphatic NO.
He is a politician hated with a vengeance in the country due to his use of troops to suppress the 'Tonypandy Riots' while he was Home Secretary.
It is that sort of attitude to 'worker rights' that made him a conservative & was behind his desire to import cheap labour from where ever it could be got - irrespective of future issues...

[mally]

Cameron might have to do a pact with UKIP if he wants to get back in again or labour will get in by default its been suggsted

Yes, I think there is a real danger of labour getting in by default...and if they do, and they ignore the immigration problem, and they just might as they are full of the PC brigade, then we really will have problems. It really does depend on how UKIP can capitalise on their recent success. I might be doing them an injustice, but I wouldn't put it past Labour to encourage immigration, as these low paid workers and benefit scroungers will end up being Labour voters.

[JimboPSM]

One has to wonder why if the UK (and the GBP) is so good and Europe (and the EUR) is so bad why then did the pound drop like a stone against the Euro in 2008 and 2009?

• 

  There has only been a partial recovery since then – the average from 2001 to 2007 was 1.501, the average from 2008 to now is 1.189 a fall of 20.8%
  
  It is noteworthy that during the time of this slight recovery against the EUR by the GBP that the EUR has had to deal with the not inconsiderable problems of a number of EUR participant countries (e.g. Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy....).
  
  Reports of the death of Europe and the EUR over this same time were dramatically and repeatedly exaggerated most especially by far right Conservative politicians, the UKIP politician, and numerous (f)right wing media and US financial media outlets - some comments even appeared on UM

Before jumping on the anti-Europe bandwagon people would be well advised to do a little research and a bit of critical thinking analysis – what hidden agendas and financial interests are actually motivating the anti-Europe brigade, just how closely are the interests of those groups allied to their own self-interest rather than the actual best interests of the people?

While being far from perfect, the exchange rate (when looked at over longer periods of time) is in my opinion one of the better indicators of the health of a country (or currency zone).

[GT93]

As a total outsider it seems to me that the EU doesn't deliver what Europeans want. Europeans want the gains from free trade, to be tied together to prevent war given European culture is extremely violent but also want to retain their independence. The EU hasn't got this mixture right. I think you need to be very wary as history teaches us that you are an extremely violent lot. This should still be the main objective - preventing you from killing each other in the tens of millions and dragging people from all round the world into your wars. In my reading of history I'm surprised I'm still alive and haven't died on the battle fields of Europe. I salute the Americans taxpayers for that and their nuclear deterrent.

[pimples]

David Cameron has arrived for an EU summit, saying his message to other leaders was that "Brussels has got too big, too bossy, too interfering".

After the rise in votes for Eurosceptic parties, he said: "The European Union cannot just shrug off these results and carry on as before. We need change."

The summit comes as UK and EU political leaders react to the Euro elections.

Lib Dem Nick Clegg pledged to keep putting the pro-EU case. Tony Blair urged Labour to "stand up" to UKIP.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has set out his approach to rebuilding trust in politics in a speech in Essex.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27583545

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Churchill, Winston, was a Liberal at one time and under Asquith initiated some very progressive legislation re: pensions and unemployment insurance.

Churchill, for all his skill as a leader in the time of crisis during the Second World War, was an opportunist as a politician.

Ask working class people in Wales if they believed that he was a 'Liberal' (with a small or a large L) & the answer would be an emphatic NO.
He is a politician hated with a vengeance in the country due to his use of troops to suppress the 'Tonypandy Riots' while he was Home Secretary.
It is that sort of attitude to 'worker rights' that made him a conservative & was behind his desire to import cheap labour from where ever it could be got - irrespective of future issues...

Got me there! 55+

Winston was not too popular during the 1927 National Strike either, or after the First World War Dardanelles campaign. Nevertheless, his liberal legislation stands, and during the Second World War he let Beveridge work out his welfare state plan and did not try to stop its implementation (I think).

Churchill did not like the idea of an independent U.K. getting subsumed in a united Europe. He hoped that the three circles of influence for Britain (relations with the Empire, the United States and Europe) would be enough to keep it out of the Common Market, but alas and alack in the end he realised that there was not much choice available.