Community Versus Commonwealth : Reappraising the 1971 Immigration Act

Consterdine, Erica (2016) Community Versus Commonwealth : Reappraising the 1971 Immigration Act. Immigrants and Minorities, 35 (1). pp. 1-20. ISSN 0261-9288

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Abstract

The 1971 Immigration Act constitutes the most important piece of legislation for the regulation of immigration to Britain. Many assume that the Act was simply a further extension of the restrictive measures established over the post-war period to end non-white immigration. Based on original archival material, I argue that the Act was established in reaction to the dilemma the government faced as a result of joining the European Economic Community and the free movement of workers against Commonwealth migrants. The Act represents the final dismantling of universal Commonwealth citizenship and, in this sense, a definitive acceptance of the end of the Empire.