Most of the new wave of Jewish immigrants pouring into New York Harbor ended up just streets away from the boat. Simon Schama, The Story of the Jews IV: Over the Rainbows, BBC 2013
There’s loads of them. There’s immigrants in the back but they’re all lying on the ground. Hunting the Essex Lorry Killers, lorry driver’s 999, BBC 2021
39 people found dead in the back of a lorry in Essex. The victims were discovered at 1.40 this morning. ibid.
One of Britain’s biggest murder investigations. ibid.
That admission from Robinson suggests he’s part of a larger organised criminal gang. ibid.
An empire that stretched all the way from Egypt to Hadrian’s Wall and brought people from Europe, Asia and Africa to live here. Tony Robinson’s History of Britain s2e1: Romans, Channel 5 2021
The early ’50s saw a massive recruitment drive for nurses; they came from across the world, from the West Indies to Ireland, part of an unprecedented period of immigration that bolstered both the NHS and the British economy. Tony Robinson’s History of Britain s2e3: 1950s, Channel 5 2022
We were weaned on the concept of the empire and the mother-country and we firmly believed this. No more loyal subjects of the king and queen had ever had … to come here and discover we weren’t wanted has been a very shattering blow … It’s not a matter of hate that our people are feeling towards the people of this country, but a very simple emotion like that of a rejected love. Michael X: Hustler, Revolutionary, Outlaw, Michael’s TV interview, Sky Showcase 2021
There is an awful warmth about my heart like a load of immortality. John Keats
Johnson-Reed Act: which set strict immigration quotes for Italians. The Italian Americans: Becoming Americans 1910-1930, PBS
In the hot summer of 1666 the city of London was consumed by a great fire. 13,000 houses were destroyed. 89 churches were incinerated. 80% of the building stock was erased. No other city had burned like this since Roman times. Great Fire of London: The Untold Story, BBC 2010
The House of Commons appointed a committee to inquire into the causes of the disaster. ibid.
Suspicions about Dutch vengeance surfaced in the parliamentary inquiry. ibid.
Londoners were divided on the subject of immigration. ibid.
The real people of Britain A.D. did not only survive an influx of foreign influences but actually flourished because of it. Dr Francis Pryor, Britain A.D: King Arthur’s Britain III, Channel 4 2004
Invasion comes in many forms: mass-migrations, immigrants bringing ideas and religions, all have shaped Britain and made it what it is. Invasion! with Sam Willis II, BBC 2007
Churchill called us the Island race … We all descend from people who came here from elsewhere. ibid.
By the time William landed on the south coast of England he had been fighting for much of his adult life … William the Taxman just doesn’t have the same ring to it as William the Conqueror. ibid.
The west coast of Scotland in 1263: pillage, plunder and conquest? Well, it’s as much about trade as anything else. ibid.
What is the French for ‘more body bags’? Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Brits on patrol in France, BBC 2022
‘We open our doors to anybody. You know, road sweepers, anyone. As long as they’ve got reasonable health they can come in. So what’s happening is all the technicians and people with brains are gradually being drained out, and we’re being left with all the riff-raff … You get classed as being a racialist.’ World in Action: See for Yourself! ITV 1972
The views of the men of London’s Smithfield market focus for the most intense opposition to Britain’s decision to take in the Asians expelled from Uganda. ibid.
An offer: Go to Uganda and see for yourself. ibid.
That same day an anti-immigration march left Smithfield to protest outside the headquarters of the Conservative Party and the Transport Workers in Westminster. ibid.
This woman [Anwar Ditta] is fighting a desperate campaign. Four or five times a week she tells her life story to total strangers. She’s spoken like this at almost 400 public meetings. It’s part of a battle to convince the Home Office that she is the mother of three children on the other side of the world so they can join her here. The Home Office doesn’t believe her. World in Action: These Children are Mine, ITV 1981
We’re not guards, we’re custody officers. Collateral II, two sisters arrive at immigration centre, BBC 2018
Quite jolly boating weather, don’t you think? Play for Today: A Passage to England by Leon Griffiths ***** Anand, BBC 1975
I’m talking of gold, Mr Onslow … It’s my uncle’s whole life savings. ibid.
The Mediterranean, Summer 2023: People in the water, and we didn’t know if they were alive or dead. Dead Calm: Killing in the Med? woman sailing
The Greek coast guard tied us with ropes. They sank us. ibid. man
The practices of the Greek coast guard began to change. ibid. woman
Being thrown overboard without life jackets - that’s murder. ibid. man
A small gang of people around the captain who were tasked with brutally enforcing discipline on the ship. ibid. woman
First, I’m going to Army and Navy Store and buy myself a blue blazer. Then I’ll stroll down Parliament Square and have a look at mother parliament. Tea time: I’m going to Fortnum’s. ibid.
I’m afraid he’s [uncle] now as dead as a dodo. ibid.
For years politicians avoided talking about immigration. But in the past two decades it’s become unignorable. So who made that happen? Why did politicians make promises they couldn’t keep? And what’s the real story of how our politics failed on immigration? Immigration: How British Politics Failed, BBC 2024
1997, new Labour: Britain is beginning to attract migrants in greater numbers. ibid.
In 2002 the War on Terror generates a spike in asylum applications, chiefly from Afghanistan and Iraq. ibid.
The number of people claiming asylum in the UK has nearly trebled since 1997. There are growing concerns over who they are. ibid.
By 2012 the Conservatives have been in coalition for two difficult years. They are keeping a close eye on what voters are thinking. The Conservatives had promised voters they would get net migration down to the tens of thousands. Immigration: How British Politics Failed II
In the 2010 General Election, UKIP had only received 3% of the vote. Nigel Farage develops UKIP’s immigration strategy drawing on research group Migration Watch. ibid.
Net migration starts to climb again. ibid.
In Spring 2018 the story explodes into public consciousness. It now has a name: the Windrush Scandal. The Home Office finally addresses this mass injustice. ibid.
The tens-of-thousands pledge has been in three Conservative election manifestos. But it is still unfulfilled. The new prime minister has a simple solution: he drops it. ibid.