Anxieties About Immigration Aren't a new phenomenon: Labour addressed the issue in 1965. They Can do it Again in 2017.

BRITAIN HAS had a long tradition of migration ranging from the Romans in 55BC, the Irish in Victorian times and Jews in the early twentieth century. Contrary to popular belief black people were established well before the 1940s according to the historian and broadcaster, David Olusoga.

It wasn't until after 1948 that significant numbers of black people and people of colour settled in the UK. mostly coming from the South East Asian sub-continent and the Caribbean Islands. By the 1950s black ethnic minority groups numbered 100,000. Most settled in specific urban areas of the country, including inner-London, Bradford, Birmingham and Leicester. Many came to Britain for a better standard of living to escape poverty and under-development. Others were directly recruited to fill labour shortages in low waged sectors of the economy such as public transport, the NHS and traditional industries in the Midlands.

Both major political parties at the time felt that Britain as the ''mother country'' had a moral duty to give commonwealth immigrants a home, a job and a form of security for their loyalty to the empire. Thousands had fought in the RAF during the war against Hitler's Germany. Sadly, many of these groups weren't welcomed by the indigenous white population. Polls conducted at the time revealed that racial prejudice and racism based on skin colour was widespread in all social classes. Black migrants were directly discriminated in the housing, job and educational markets with few accessing the good jobs that were available. Many were forced to live in inner-city districts of our major cities and as a result set up community based organisations and religious buildings. By 1958 urban unrest with a strong racial dimension erupted in London's run down Notting Hill district. By 1961 large numbers of people favoured immigration control.

It was clear to many national politicians that 'race' and immigration had become a major political issue. Yet during the fifties governments were reluctant to discuss the issue. Neither Labour nor the Conservatives wanted to be seen as either pro-immigrant nor anti-immigrant for it could have been electorally and politically damaging to the nation's relations with the commonwealth.

Pressure from the electorate onto the political elites caused governments to acknowledge the issue and passed the 1962 Commonwealth Immigration Act restricting black immigration - legislation seen by some public policy makers as racist. Yet it's rare for the bulk of the population to force an issue onto the major parties: a situation recurring today.

In 1964 when in opposition Labour lost an important 'safe' seat at Smethwick to a Conservative candidate who had a blatant racist, anti-immigration line to his policy. This convinced Labour that race couldn't be left out of domestic politics. As Richard Crossman noted in his diaries: ''Ever since the Smethwick election it has become quite clear that immigration can be the greatest potential vote loser for the Labour Party.'' By 1965 both parties had adopted a ''bi-partisan' approach to the 'race issue'. Labour, to its credit, passed the Race Relations Act which in turn established the Race Relations Board which had powers to probe cases of racial discrimination and bring them to court. But critics from the left doubted the new legislation was in the interests of racial equality. The Labour Administration was more concerned to appease public opinion with its tough policy on immigration controls than to curb racial discrimination.

It was Enoch Powell's 1968 'Rivers of Blood' speech which brought the issue to a head which resulted in hundreds of East End London dockers to down tools demanding an end to ''mass immigration''. Although Tory Party leader Ted Heath sacked Powell from his Shadow Cabinet, Labour felt obliged to bring in the 1968 Immigration Act aimed at further restrictions of overseas migration. By 1971 with the return of a Conservative Government another Immigration Act was passed limiting black immigration. But both parties recognised the importance of established BME communities in terms of electoral support and adopted a dual strategy to win over black voters. In 1976 Labour passed a robust Race Relations Act to stamp out direct and indirect discrimination and re-established the Commission for Racial Equality.

Despite these developments the mid-seventies saw the rise of the extreme far-right National Front (NF) which achieved modest success in council elections. It wasn't till the 1979 General Election that the radical Conservative Mrs Thatcher won a sizeable majority with a populist mandate to curb immigration. The early eighties saw urban riots involving disaffected black youth in several of Britain's inner-cities which were marked by urban decay, soaring unemployment and deprivation. Although the issue ceased to be significant in the noughties, it resurfaced in 2001 where ethnic tensions blew up between the white and Asian community in the former mill towns of Oldham, Burnley, and Bradford exploited to the full by the far-right BNP.

In 1963 Britain's ethnic minority population stood at 336,000. In the last half decade the UK has about 300,000 immigrating each year. The EU Referendum in 2016, Brexit together with the resurgence of the radical-right UKIP, has forced the issue of migration on all political parties. Survey evidence tells us that's it become the number one policy issue. Over 70% of 'Leave' voters cited it as the key factor in determining their vote in the Referendum. Both Labour and to a lesser extent the Tories are divided on the issue. Labour's current leadership is in a muddle about immigration and the free movement of labour whilst Northern MPs like Greater Manchester's Mayoral hopeful Andy Burnham aren't and trade union, UNITE are not. For Burnham ''freedom of movement'' is no longer an option.

Only 11% of voters believe that Labour has the best policy on immigration. Amongst Labour voters the figure is 71%. With poll ratings like this on such a significant issue many in the party have reached the conclusion that Labour must engage their supporters with a managed position on migration before it's too late.

Stephen Lambert is a former lecturer in Politics and Sociology. An Advisor to Policy North, Stephen is also a Newcastle City Councillor.