Gordon - Walkerts defeat in 1964 was primarily due to the growth in the Midlands of pockets of racist feeling stimulated by the large-scale influx of Black immigrants in the late fifties. Although the Tories had encouraged such immigration - to fill the 'labour shortagel particularly in service industries - they had, as early as 1962, play on these racist moods by proposing Commonwealth Immigration Act. This Act, introduced a voucher system', was the first to openly base immigration control on what was, in effect, a Icolour barl.
While the Labour leaders had previously opposed any immigration policy with a racist bias, allowed the 1962 Act to go through without a murmer of protest. The defeat, two years later, Gordon - Walker - on an anti-immigration ticket -pushed them ever more to the 'right'. Instead of launching a strong anti - racist campaign, the frightened of losing out polls, were panicked into accepting premises of their opponents. From then on, essive Labour governments have presented gruesome picture of 'competing' with the Tories in introducing ever - harsher restrictions against Black immigrants entering the country.
In 1965, Harold Wilson published his first White Paper which suggested limiting Black immigration (under the voucher system) to 8500 a year and, in 1968, Jim Callaghan proposed his Immigration Act which he defended against Powell on the grounds that it had done more to keep Blacks out than any piece of Tory legislation.
These Acts were introduced with hardly any opposition within the Labour Party or trade union movement - or, any active opposition. It is true that certain trade unions such as the T&GWU are on record as being opposed to all forms of racist immigration controls. Very little has been done, however, over the years, to turn this 'verball opposition into a real struggle to prevent the Labour leaders from adopting ever-more racist positions, under pressure from their opponents.