ABSTRACT
In the course of just six years, the Wilson Governments of 1964-1970 extended and tightened immigration controls, whilst at the same time creating a wholly new legal framework outlawing racial discrimination and incitement. As several commentators have argued, the combination of restrictive immigration laws with progressive race relations legislation marked the beginning of a policy linkage that has continued down to this day. Shamit Saggar has described this linkage as the ‘limitation-integration equation’, by which restrictive immigration controls are conjoined with integration and anti-discrimination measures as part of a broad policy package (1992: 77; cf. Favell, 2001: 110-22; Hansen, 2000: 128-9). This chapter aims to show how the limitation-integration equation was developed as a political strategy to maintain support from opposed constituencies within the Labour Party, as well as the country as a whole. The intention was to appease anti-immigrant sentiment by restrictive immigration controls, and placate liberal and left-wing progressives with race relations legislation.
