65 Years ago Tilbury Dock

[max_tranmere]

When I saw the title I knew what it referred to straight away, I don't think Tilbury in Essex is really known for much. This is one event always associated with it. There was a labour shortage after the war, this is why immigrants were invited to come. The dismantling of the Empire starting in the late-50's and onwards meant many more people could come as they were British passport holders and many had also been denied being able to learn about, or live out, their own culture and language whilst growing up under their colonial masters. They had been brought up as Brits and English speaking.

The amount coming from the late-50's onwards was huge, even the Government were taken-aback by the numbers, and they tried to bring in a new Commonwealth Immigration Act to slow it down. That took several years to introduce and by then the numbers were vast. There have been few other things that successive Government's have ever got wrong down the years worse than their prediction of numbers that will come from other places when the door is opened to that country. Every Government from the late-50's until today have always vastly underestimated the numbers. In later years it became about trying to get votes for a party, a very cynical thing for politicians to do. Labour excelled at it.

[Gentleman]

Can't blame it totally on the Labour Party the Tories have loved the idea of a never ending stream of labour that then reduces the level of wages and raises rents/housing costs amongst other things.

I think the nations only hope would have been to torpedo the wind rush on its way.

[lloyd42]

"I think the nations only hope would have been to torpedo the wind rush on its way."

Are you serious?

[Gentleman]

Fraid so.

[Gentleman]

Correction...it would have been better to have ad a more sensible approach such as the migrants were only permitted for a fixed period after which they then left as our population would have risen to cover the manpower shortage we had.

Das boot would have been the last desperate action.

[David Johnson]

...is migration is a two way thing, "in and out" as the actress said to the bishop.

Hey, I think things are a lot better now - the Caribbean Club in Toxteth in the 1980s, zingaroonirama and those Birmingham baltis, yummy yum yum!!!!!

None of you boys been to the Notting Hill Carnivaaaaaarl? Sad mon, sad!

Now boys and girls, here's a pdf



Find the bottom of page 7 and look at the graph called UK annual net international migrations 1901-1997.

Here is a bit of accompanying text I have copied and pasted for those who can't be arsed to read the pdf.

"At the beginning of the century the UK was a net exporter of
population, mostly young men, to other countries especially
North America, Australia and New Zealand and other colonies. After the
First World War the trend was reversed as many migrants
returned home to ?weather the storm? of the depression years.

The UK again became a net exporter of population in the 1970s
and 1980s as families migrated under arranged passages to
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

In 1997, 96,600 more people immigrated into the UK than
emigrated from it. Since 1901, more people have emigrated from the UK than
immigrated. By 1997, a net exodus from the UK of 15,600,000 had occurred."

15,600,000 net emigrants???? Bloody hell, boys and girls. Thank Christ Tony Blair let all those hardworking Poles in, eh?

[Essex Lad]

You don't half love your statistics which since they are provided by the Government, no one believes anyway.

And why would anyone want to go to the Notting Hill carnival anyway if you weren't West Indian any more than any West Indian would want to go to a St Patrick's Day parade?