Just one picture, of gross immigration (not the 'net' sleight of hand to compare apples and oranges) since the 1920s might have saved a thousand (or two) words?
“Comparing Jewish to Irish immigration, we can see that it took a far smaller influx to prompt government action.”
The fact that Ireland was part of the United Kingdom surely had something to do with that?
The fact that the Windrush passengers were able to disembark in 1948 before the 1948 Act came into force (in 1949) suggests that the Act did not give people any rights to settle here that they had not previously had.
Does the importance of the 1948 Act lie in the creation of Commonwealth citizenship, which meant that citizens of India and Pakistan could continue to emigrate to Britain even after those countries became republics (in 1947 and 1956 respectively) and their inhabitants ceased to be British subjects???
Just one picture, of gross immigration (not the 'net' sleight of hand to compare apples and oranges) since the 1920s might have saved a thousand (or two) words?
“Comparing Jewish to Irish immigration, we can see that it took a far smaller influx to prompt government action.”
The fact that Ireland was part of the United Kingdom surely had something to do with that?
The fact that the Windrush passengers were able to disembark in 1948 before the 1948 Act came into force (in 1949) suggests that the Act did not give people any rights to settle here that they had not previously had.
Does the importance of the 1948 Act lie in the creation of Commonwealth citizenship, which meant that citizens of India and Pakistan could continue to emigrate to Britain even after those countries became republics (in 1947 and 1956 respectively) and their inhabitants ceased to be British subjects???
This is a reasonable point; see Footnote 1 that acknowledges this point on Irish versus Jewish immigration.