ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the textual evidence from Parliamentary Debates that can confirm or refute the view. It discusses the content of the debates taking place after 1968, particularly involving Powell directly. The chapter discusses the claims of M. Barker and P. Gilroy to specific textual examination. Claims for a new cultural discourse of difference, via Powell’s intervention, the ‘real’ concern and point of focus of this phenomenon are: 'birth rate', more specifically 'coloured births'. The New Racism (NR) theorists are silent about the role the numbers game continues to play in 'new racist' discourse. Barker's treatment of the excerpt suggests a vindication of the NR; such a family should be returned to its 'natural environment in Sierra Leone'. The 5th July 1976, Immigration Debate, presented as the example par excellence of the penetration of the NR into the political culture, was in feet an opposition initiated debate conducted on a supply day.