Government Secrets on Race Discrimination

Background

     A public record is a document created or stored by the government in the course of its business. Public records in Britain go back nearly a thousand years. The oldest is the Domesday Book, which dates from 1086. The Public Record Office has older material which comes from Anglo-Saxon times but these are private and personal records.

     In the Middle Ages, the public records were the king's personal records created in the course of governing his lands. These records were much prized and were carried around with the king. They were transported in chests with his other precious objects like gold and jewels.

     As royal administration became more complex in the 12th century, the records became more centralized, and the Public Record Office in London is now a vast national archive. The records take up over 150 kilometres of shelving, and most records can be read by the public when they are 30 years old. Others are closed for longer - like the population censuses to protect the privacy of the individuals named in them.

     At the beginning of each year, the Public Record Office publishes government papers which have been kept secret for the past 30 years

Revelations about immigration policy

     This year, the cabinet papers newly released show that Edward Heath, who was Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974, tried to change the immigration rules to make it more difficult for blacks and Asians to settle in Britain. Mr Heath, asked ministers if "administrative" means could be used to favour incomers from Australia, New Zealand and Canada rather than those from Africa, the Caribbean or the Indian subcontinent.

     Mr Heath's Cabinet originally agreed to include the measures in the 1971 Immigration Bill, even though ministers knew they would be seen as discriminatory.

     Reginald Maudling, who was Home Secretary, told ministers that immigration from the "new" Commonwealth had to be restricted to prevent a "resurgence" of Asian and black immigrants that would upset public opinion. He told the Cabinet: "Such a resurgence would inflame community relations in Britain. The success of our policies aimed at improving community relations is basically dependent on the Government maintaining firm and demonstrable control over the admission of immigrants."

    Minutes of the meeting show ministers knew the proposals would lead to "charges of discrimination" against the Government but thought them "necessary and defensible" given "the propensity of 'new' Commonwealth immigrants to settle permanently and to bring their dependents".

    The Cabinet agreed to adopt the so-called grandparent concession that Commonwealth citizens with a parent or grandparent born in Britain should be exempt from immigration controls, accepting that it would "broadly benefit" whites.

     "Although such a concession would probably attract some criticism as being discriminatory in favour of the 'white' Commonwealth, it was defensible as being a clear reflection of our unique relationship with the 'old' Commonwealth countries," the minutes said.

    The concession was added to the Bill but defeated at the committee stage in the Commons. Mr Heath said they should still investigate if it was possible to achieve the same result by easing rules for white immigrants in practice.

    He told Mr Maudling and the ministers involved that they should look at "the feasibility of achieving by administrative measures the aims which the rejection of the grandparental concession had frustrated".

    The 1971 Act, which remains the cornerstone of immigration law, was introduced on 1 January 1973, amid criticism that its complex entry system clearly favoured whites over blacks and Asians. The records show that despite the criticism Mr Heath's measure attracted, other ministers had wanted to go even further, calling for the complete abolition of immigration controls for the old Commonwealth.

    However the minutes show that the Cabinet as a whole believed that was a step too far: "It would be difficult to defend against the charges that we were discriminating against the 'new' Commonwealth and giving to nationals of the 'old' Commonwealth a special status which it could be argued was contrary to the concept of the Commonwealth as a multi-racial institution".

    Conclusive evidence of discrimination can be found not only this year, but in cabinet papers for 1955, 1961 and 1968.

Overt discrimination

    Immigration and asylum are excluded from the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, which outlawed ethnic discrimination by public authorities but made an exception for the immigration service. Immigration officials can now legitimately discriminate "on ground of ethnic or national origin" against a) Kurd, b) Roma, c) Albanian, d) Tamil, e) Pontic Greek, f) Somali, g) Afghan". All persons of these origins are now to be subject "to a more rigorous examination than other persons in the same circumstances".

Freedom of Information

    This year Parliament passed the Freedom of Information Act which creates a statutory right for people to obtain internal documents held by public authorities, although campaigners have criticised it as being far too weak.

    It is expected to come into force in April 2002. The Act may start to change the government’s "culture of secrecy". Although records will still be published each January as usual, any determined member of the public can apply for documents without having to wait for thirty years.

     We can wait and see if the Act has any teeth, but it is unlikely that there will be many improvements when a government is prepared to openly discriminate.