0:00:03 > 0:00:08In the early hours of the morning on Tuesday 2nd January, 1906,
0:00:08 > 0:00:12a boat approached British shores with an unusual cargo.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Aboard were ten American sailors,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20who'd just been saved from death on a shipwreck.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Three weeks earlier, out in the Atlantic,
0:00:22 > 0:00:27a gale had punched a hole in their ship, which had begun to sink.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31The desperate crew huddled together on the roof of the cabin.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37After five agonising days, finally a British vessel appeared.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39They were saved!
0:00:41 > 0:00:43The sailors were now approaching Southampton,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46where they hoped to board another ship home.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50But first, they had to meet the British authorities.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54The crew were questioned, refused entry
0:00:54 > 0:00:57and, incredibly, ordered back out to sea.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Why? Because the shipwrecked sailors were, officially,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04destitute alien immigrants.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09The unlucky sailors had arrived
0:01:09 > 0:01:12just one day after modern Britain had introduced
0:01:12 > 0:01:15its first peacetime restrictions on immigration.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18Before that, in the Victorian era,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21the welcome we gave to so-called aliens
0:01:21 > 0:01:23was a huge source of national pride.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28But, in the early 20th century, things changed.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31For the first time, Britain had to face up to the question
0:01:31 > 0:01:34that has haunted its politics ever since -
0:01:34 > 0:01:38who do we let in and who do we keep out?
0:01:38 > 0:01:41- NEWS REPORT:- 50,000 Bulgarian and Romanian migrants
0:01:41 > 0:01:42could come every year...
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Today, as Britain heads for Brexit,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47few topics are more divisive than immigration.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50There is no case in the national interest
0:01:50 > 0:01:53for immigration of the scale we have experienced
0:01:53 > 0:01:55over the last decade.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Immigration can be used as a proxy
0:01:58 > 0:02:02to abuse or intimidate minority communities within our society.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04- THEY CHANT:- Go home, refugees!
0:02:04 > 0:02:06These individuals from some of these cultures they come from
0:02:06 > 0:02:08are feral humans.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10How long before migrant communities
0:02:10 > 0:02:13have to stop taking that loyalty test?
0:02:15 > 0:02:17To understand how we got where we are,
0:02:17 > 0:02:18we need to go back to the decades
0:02:18 > 0:02:21from the Victorian age to the First World War,
0:02:21 > 0:02:26when many of today's attitudes to immigrants were first formed.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32As Britain again prepares to draw up new rules about its borders,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35I want to find out if looking at this period,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38where immigration first became a toxic issue,
0:02:38 > 0:02:42could help us approach it more clearly.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45We've been here before but can we learn from it?
0:02:56 > 0:02:59The Times newspaper once printed
0:02:59 > 0:03:03a bold declaration of Britain's pride in its open door.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07"Every civilised people on the face of the Earth..."
0:03:07 > 0:03:10"Must be fully aware that this country is the asylum of nations."
0:03:10 > 0:03:12"The asylum of nations."
0:03:14 > 0:03:16- "And it will defend the asylum..." - "Defend the asylum..."
0:03:16 > 0:03:19"Defend the asylum to the last ounce of its treasure..."
0:03:19 > 0:03:21"And the last drop of its blood."
0:03:21 > 0:03:23"There is no point whatsoever..."
0:03:23 > 0:03:25- "On which we are prouder..." - "Prouder..."
0:03:26 > 0:03:28When do you think that was written?
0:03:28 > 0:03:31- 100 years ago?- Ooh, '50s.
0:03:31 > 0:03:331800. 1900?
0:03:33 > 0:03:36- '45.- 50, 60 years ago?
0:03:36 > 0:03:381853.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41That was a Times leader, a British establishment paper, saying,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44"British values are open doors. That's all there is to it.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47"That's what we do." Do you think that's a good idea?
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Um...
0:03:49 > 0:03:51No, absolutely not.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55If you say you have unlimited amount of people coming in,
0:03:55 > 0:03:56it's not going to work.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Let them come, if they've got war, famine or whatnot.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02It's probably not sustainable.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05I think a lot of people would probably have a problem with it.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Today, few appear to believe
0:04:08 > 0:04:11that Britain should welcome literally anyone.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13But in the mid-19th century,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17this was not the viewpoint of an idealistic fringe.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19It was mainstream opinion.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23In fact, the "open door" was at the heart of British identity.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27It was felt that we had a duty to accept anyone to these shores,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31with no passport, no visa, no letter of introduction,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35just a metaphorical handshake and the confident assumption
0:04:35 > 0:04:38that the newcomer would, in due course, contribute
0:04:38 > 0:04:40to the greatness of Great Britain.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45It was such an important part of Britain's self-image
0:04:45 > 0:04:46in the Victorian period,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48that it was open to anyone.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50Of course, why wouldn't anyone want to come here?
0:04:50 > 0:04:54We were by far the greatest culture and civilisation
0:04:54 > 0:04:55the world had ever seen.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00- Do you think the Victorians saw this as a moral point?- Very much so.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02They'd just abolished slavery,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05they'd just emancipated Catholics and Jews.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08They saw themselves as the leaders of the free world,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11not just the imperial power in the world.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15So, it was simultaneously an act of moral leadership
0:05:15 > 0:05:18and a statement of pride.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23The Victorians made no distinction between asylum seekers
0:05:23 > 0:05:28and economic migrants coming here for work and a better life.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30And they would go to extraordinary lengths
0:05:30 > 0:05:32to keep their door open to everyone,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36even if that meant harbouring a terrorist.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Born in France in 1817,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Simon Bernard was a revolutionary socialist.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Known for his ability to fanaticise the masses,
0:05:47 > 0:05:52Bernard was wanted by the French authorities.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54So, in 1851,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58he took advantage of the Victorians' proudly open door
0:05:58 > 0:06:01- and legged it to England.- Hmm.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04BIG BEN CHIMES
0:06:04 > 0:06:07For seven years, Bernard made his home in London.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11His neighbours, here on Park Street,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14knew him as that nice man who gives French lessons.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19But all that time, the quiet teacher had a dark secret.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22EXPLOSION
0:06:22 > 0:06:29On 14th January, 1858, three terrorist bombs went off in Paris.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Their target, the Emperor of France, survived,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35but eight bystanders were killed.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40What would have shocked the good people of Park Street
0:06:40 > 0:06:44was to discover that the bombs used in the attack had been supplied
0:06:44 > 0:06:48by that nice Dr Bernard, who kept himself to himself,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51from right here at number 10.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55The French blamed the murderous act
0:06:55 > 0:06:58on Britain's lack of immigration controls,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01which had allowed terrorists to enter freely
0:07:01 > 0:07:04and set up, in the words of one French politician,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06"Laboratories of assassination".
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Bernard was arrested, charged with being an accessory to murder
0:07:12 > 0:07:14and sent for trial at the Old Bailey.
0:07:17 > 0:07:2073 witnesses gave evidence against him
0:07:20 > 0:07:22and Bernard did not even deny the charges.
0:07:22 > 0:07:28It looked like it was all over, but his lawyer had an audacious plan.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31He decided to recast the whole trial
0:07:31 > 0:07:35as an attack on the great British open door.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39For centuries, our shores have been open
0:07:39 > 0:07:42and the protection of our strong arm has been extended
0:07:42 > 0:07:47to those whom the operation of political and religious persecution
0:07:47 > 0:07:50have driven from their native soil.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:07:55 > 0:07:58He argued that Bernard wasn't a criminal but a victim,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00oppressed by the tyrannical French.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04He had taken up Britain's offer of welcome to all.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08And that meant the nation had a duty to protect him.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11After just two hours,
0:08:11 > 0:08:15the jury returned to the packed courtroom to deliver its verdict.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18Simon Bernard walked free.
0:08:20 > 0:08:21This was extraordinary.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Bernard had been banged to rights
0:08:23 > 0:08:27but it's a measure of that open Victorian attitude to immigration
0:08:27 > 0:08:30that Bernard left the court
0:08:30 > 0:08:33with the cheers of the crowd ringing in his ears.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Setting free a terrorist to display
0:08:41 > 0:08:45your commitment to open borders sounds a little crazy.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Nowadays, many of those proud of British liberal values
0:08:48 > 0:08:53have come to accept that defending them should not come at any cost.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56One reason for that is that the numbers are very different.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Recent figures show that, in 2015,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05there were almost nine million foreign-born people in the UK,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08or more than one in eight of the population.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Back in 1851, in England, Scotland and Wales,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15there were just over 60,000,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18less than one in every 300 people.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22By the start of the 20th century,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25the foreign-born figure had risen fivefold,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29but that was still less than 1% of the total population.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35In certain urban areas, however, the proportion was much higher.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40This is a map of Jewish settlement in the East End,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43- which comes from 1899.- Huh.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48And the very darkest blue, you've got 95 to 100% Jewish.
0:09:48 > 0:09:5195% Jews.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52Yeah, 95 to 100% Jews.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56VOICEOVER: Historian David Rosenberg's great-grandparents
0:09:56 > 0:10:00were among roughly 100,000 Jewish immigrants who came to Britain
0:10:00 > 0:10:02in the late 19th century.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05We're just in Princelet Street, just over here.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Portrayed like this, it does suddenly seem like,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11"Look, there's an enormous bit of the East End
0:10:11 > 0:10:13- "that has suddenly become Jewish." - Yeah.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Fleeing persecution and poverty in Eastern Europe,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23the Jewish arrivals quickly set up communities in British cities.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26And when they arrived, what did people make of them?
0:10:26 > 0:10:30Well, they had many complaints about the Jews.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34They felt the area was becoming extremely overcrowded.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38But if the Jews came here and they got on with their own work
0:10:38 > 0:10:41and they didn't disturb anyone else, why were people upset with them?
0:10:41 > 0:10:44OK, because the workers who were already here were worried
0:10:44 > 0:10:47that a new lot of people coming in in large numbers,
0:10:47 > 0:10:51who are willing to work very long hours at low rates of pay...
0:10:51 > 0:10:53And that's presumably true.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58Well, it was, um, partly, but also, it wasn't,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02in the sense that the sweated industries had already started
0:11:02 > 0:11:05in the East End before the Jews got here,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07and they greatly expanded that.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10But presumably they were slightly undercutting wages...
0:11:10 > 0:11:11Well, they were...
0:11:11 > 0:11:14..just by the numbers of them arriving, looking for work.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17- Yeah, I mean, in that sense, it was an employer's dream.- Yeah.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Because if there were people in the workshops
0:11:20 > 0:11:23complaining that their wages were not high enough,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25they would say, "Well, go away. I can find some other people."
0:11:25 > 0:11:27- Yeah, another boat coming.- Yeah.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35The concerns about cheap labour intensified anxiety
0:11:35 > 0:11:37over fast-changing neighbourhoods.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Initially, these tensions were limited
0:11:40 > 0:11:42to small pockets of inner cities.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47But, in 1900, the East End elected an MP
0:11:47 > 0:11:50who was determined to make immigrants a national issue.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57Sir William Evans-Gordon made his name in India as a British officer.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Handsome and energetic,
0:12:00 > 0:12:04he'd once crossed two passes of the Himalayas in less than 18 hours.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08In 1900, he became the Conservative MP
0:12:08 > 0:12:12for white working-class Stepney in the East End,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16and he wasted no time making his views known on immigrants.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29Evans-Gordon laid out the charges against the newcomers.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31They threatened communities.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36Not a day passes, but English families are ruthlessly turned out
0:12:36 > 0:12:38to make room for foreign invaders.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41They overwhelm resources.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43The rates are burdened with the education
0:12:43 > 0:12:46of thousands of foreign children.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50And he warned, "A storm is brewing which,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54"if it is allowed to burst, will have deplorable results."
0:12:54 > 0:12:56It's the sort of doom-laden imagery
0:12:56 > 0:12:59with which, since, we've become all too familiar.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03The reality is that, at that time,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06people were pouring OUT of Britain, not pouring INTO it.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09But there was a sensation created,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11which scheming politicians could jump on,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14that we were under an alien invasion.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18This, of course, is when HG Wells wrote The War Of The Worlds.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22This is when Bram Stoker wrote Dracula which, of course,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25is about a blood-sucking migrant from Eastern Europe,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28- preying on innocent British workers. - And women.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30And women, of course, yeah.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34And what Evans-Gordon was able to bring
0:13:34 > 0:13:38to that inchoate feeling of insecurity about this,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42was a tremendous sense of high society, respectability,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44that this was an honourable thing to think.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47It was not racist to dislike those Jews.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54Evans-Gordon argued, in a book of 1903,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57the Jews not only undermined communities,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59they couldn't really be trusted.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03"I wish to make it perfectly clear that I direct
0:14:03 > 0:14:07"no hostile criticism against the Jews as a people.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10"But..." And there's always a "but".
0:14:10 > 0:14:13"But they are necessarily a race apart.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17"By pride in their traditions, their ideals
0:14:17 > 0:14:21"and the mission of their race, they are Jews before all things
0:14:21 > 0:14:25"and their first loyalty is to Israel."
0:14:29 > 0:14:34But how true were Evans-Gordon's claims about disloyalty?
0:14:34 > 0:14:37So, if we come here, this is the foundation plaque
0:14:37 > 0:14:43for the New Road Synagogue, that was consecrated on May 24th, 1892.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45"Her Majesty's birthday.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48"A letter was addressed to the Queen, on behalf of the members,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51"expressing their respectful felicitations,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54"acknowledging their loyalty to Her Majesty."
0:14:54 > 0:14:57They're actually carving themselves in.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59This is a very trad-looking stone
0:14:59 > 0:15:03and "VR", Victoria Regina, is above the name of the synagogue.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05A royal crest was obviously there.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Look, you can see the outline of the lion and the unicorn.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10That was really in your face.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Actually, I think it's quite clever because it is a reminder
0:15:14 > 0:15:16to all the people who are trying to deprive them
0:15:16 > 0:15:19of those civil liberties and those religious liberties
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and saying, "We don't want Jews here."
0:15:21 > 0:15:23They're saying, "No, underneath YOUR Queen,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26"who we are celebrating here, we are allowed to be here."
0:15:28 > 0:15:32But the immigrants' argument cut little ice with Evans-Gordon.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34He now decided the time was right
0:15:34 > 0:15:38to turn local hostility into organised opposition.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44This rather austere poster is attempting to drum up business
0:15:44 > 0:15:46for a great public demonstration,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50and the burning issue of the day, "Destitute foreigners".
0:15:50 > 0:15:52There are going to be Members of Parliament there,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54borough councillors,
0:15:54 > 0:15:58"all shades of politics, Ministers of religion of all denominations".
0:15:58 > 0:16:01This is a real attempt to make this
0:16:01 > 0:16:04a representative, mainstream meeting.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06But who's in the chair?
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Well, it says, "The chair will be taken at eight PM sharp..." -
0:16:09 > 0:16:14no messing about - "..by Major Evans-Gordon, MP."
0:16:16 > 0:16:19The rally was organised by a new grassroots movement,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23spearheaded by Evans-Gordon - the British Brothers' League.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28They were a movement dedicated to the proposition
0:16:28 > 0:16:30that Britain was best, Britain was for the British.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34They were the first right-wing, popular, protest,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37marching, bully-boy gang.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44- Somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000 are crammed into this huge hall.- Mm.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48They've got placards and Union Jacks, banners saying,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52"British jobs for British workers, British homes for British people."
0:16:52 > 0:16:56And was there anything in it? I mean, were they losing housing?
0:16:56 > 0:17:00That was the narrative that they were led to believe.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03But the counter-narrative, people stress, "Go round the country.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06"There are areas where there's no immigrants and there's low pay
0:17:06 > 0:17:09"and there's bad housing and there's unemployment."
0:17:09 > 0:17:14If your own situation is very bad, economically,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17it's very easy to find enemies and people to blame.
0:17:17 > 0:17:22This long-standing anti-alien agitator in the area,
0:17:22 > 0:17:26when he said, "These people are not coming as refugees,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28"they're coming because they want our money,"
0:17:28 > 0:17:30he was greeted with somebody from the audience
0:17:30 > 0:17:32shouting, "Wipe them out."
0:17:35 > 0:17:38The anxieties about jobs and homes
0:17:38 > 0:17:41that the British Brothers' League fed off are still familiar today.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Recently, mainstream politicians have been accused
0:17:45 > 0:17:50of making the situation worse by ignoring concerns over immigration.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55In 2004, another group from Eastern Europe -
0:17:55 > 0:17:58not Jews, but migrants from countries joining the EU -
0:17:58 > 0:18:02started arriving here and there were far more of them
0:18:02 > 0:18:05than the Labour government of the day expected.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09I think soon there will be more Polish people here than English.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13One of the key front bench figures and, as Home Secretary,
0:18:13 > 0:18:15the man in charge of Britain's immigration policy,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17was Alan Johnson.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21In 2009, when you were Home Secretary, you said,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24"People think we've shied away from a debate about immigration
0:18:24 > 0:18:26"and they may well be right."
0:18:26 > 0:18:29Why do politicians shy away from talking about it?
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Well, I think there was a reluctance amongst us.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37We couldn't deny that we'd got the figures wrong,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40in terms of the projected numbers that were going to come
0:18:40 > 0:18:43from the Eastern European accession countries in 2004.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46We had egg all over our face. It's best not to talk about it.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49But the right tend to breed
0:18:49 > 0:18:52when people won't address the issues of immigration.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54If everyone says, "Oh, it's embarrassing
0:18:54 > 0:18:56"and if you say anything, it's racist, so we'll keep quiet,"
0:18:56 > 0:19:00the people who don't mind being racist or saying things about it
0:19:00 > 0:19:01then start to move in in force.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Yes, they do. But I have to say, even when you're talking about it,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08people still accuse you of not talking about it.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10When I was Home Secretary, I spoke about little else.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13We were keen to talk about the points-based system
0:19:13 > 0:19:16that we were introducing, we were keen to talk about the measures
0:19:16 > 0:19:19we were taking - biometric passports, stuff like that.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21All that sounds like blah-di-blah...
0:19:21 > 0:19:24- Cos it's not really the big issue, that's right.- Yeah.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26The issue, for me, was Eastern European.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29And what was the resentment there?
0:19:29 > 0:19:32"Why are these people coming over here, getting jobs,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36"when 18 to 24-year-olds, in particular, can't find any work?"
0:19:36 > 0:19:39And it seems to be, historically, that is always the cry.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42The Jews move into the East End in the 1890s,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45the workers suddenly say, "There aren't enough houses,
0:19:45 > 0:19:46"they're undercutting our jobs."
0:19:46 > 0:19:49And you get the British Brothers' League
0:19:49 > 0:19:53which is, essentially, the same old far-right movement.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54But here's a funny thing about that.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Once they become assimilated, once they're going to school...
0:19:59 > 0:20:02By the time I left Notting Hill in 1969,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06we were singing reggae songs and going out, you know...
0:20:06 > 0:20:08We're quite fortunate.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12We've never had this Front National that you see in France,
0:20:12 > 0:20:14these extreme politicians,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19whose whole career has been based on...basically, racism.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22I do like to think that, on some things,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25we can teach other countries about how to integrate.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Of course, not perfect,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30but I think we've done it better than many other countries.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37A century ago, the integration Alan Johnson values
0:20:37 > 0:20:40was in short supply in parts of Britain's inner cities.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43Rapidly changing neighbourhoods
0:20:43 > 0:20:48meant hostility towards the new arrivals was on the rise.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Yet, some of the sharpest attacks on immigrants
0:20:51 > 0:20:53came from surprising places.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58This is an election campaign flyer from 1895.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01It was issued on behalf of the Conservative candidate
0:21:01 > 0:21:07for the constituency of Bethnal Green North East in the East End.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10"What's one of the principal causes of increased house rent
0:21:10 > 0:21:14"in East London? Foreign pauper aliens!
0:21:14 > 0:21:16"What's one of the causes of overcrowding
0:21:16 > 0:21:18"and insanitary dwellings?
0:21:18 > 0:21:20"Foreign pauper aliens.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22"Who competes with the boot makers?
0:21:22 > 0:21:26"Foreign pauper aliens." And so it goes on.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29The anti-immigrant message is fairly typical,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32but the name at the bottom is anything but.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37It says, "If you don't want THEM, vote for Bhownagree."
0:21:37 > 0:21:41The anti-immigrant politician is an Indian immigrant.
0:21:43 > 0:21:49Mancherjee Bhownagree was born in Bombay in 1851.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53A dedicated Anglophile, he'd even translated the Scottish diaries
0:21:53 > 0:21:56of Queen Victoria into Gujarati.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03In his 30s, he'd strode through Victorian Britain's open door
0:22:03 > 0:22:06to study law. But, once here,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Bhownagree didn't exactly welcome his fellow immigrants.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Bethnal Green is, today,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22home to a population that is around one-third Bangladeshi origin.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28But, in the 1890s, it was solidly white working-class.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32It was here the Indian-born Bhownagree
0:22:32 > 0:22:36threw his hat into the ring, running for the Conservatives.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41At his very first public meeting, Bhownagree was heckled,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43with cries of "Foreigner" and "Alien".
0:22:43 > 0:22:48But he had a bold strategy to win over the East End voters.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53He declared, "Like yourselves, it is my great pride to have been,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57"since birth, a British subject and citizen.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01"I can assure you my whole life and interest has been bound up
0:23:01 > 0:23:03"with the British Empire."
0:23:03 > 0:23:06He was no alien immigrant.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Like his listeners, he was an English speaker
0:23:08 > 0:23:10and a loyal subject of Her Majesty the Queen.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16For Bhownagree's critics, his proud membership of the Conservatives,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20the party of Empire, wasn't loyalty, but servility.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27They came up with a nickname - "Bhownagree" became "Bow And Agree".
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Oh, what are you doing here?
0:23:29 > 0:23:34Well, we British love to come down to our local for a pint.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Of course we do.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Oh, Vanessa, hi.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41- Not yet, but I'm working on it. - LAUGHTER
0:23:41 > 0:23:43The accusation that immigrants try to become
0:23:43 > 0:23:47more British than the British is a rich source of satire,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50like the Coopers' and Robinsons' excruciating efforts
0:23:50 > 0:23:52to blend in in Goodness Gracious Me.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57- I think he means, "Would you like something to drink?"- I knew that!
0:23:57 > 0:23:59LAUGHTER
0:23:59 > 0:24:03Meanwhile, the immigrant who takes a tough line on immigration
0:24:03 > 0:24:08is deftly sent up by Adil Ray's creation Citizen Khan.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Too many bloody immigrants coming to this country!
0:24:11 > 0:24:12LAUGHTER
0:24:12 > 0:24:15- YOU'RE an immigrant, Dad! - I'm not an immigrant, sweetie.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20I've been here 30 years. Immigrants are the Eastern Europeans!
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Coming over here, taking our jobs - jobs meant for us Pakistanis!
0:24:24 > 0:24:26- LAUGHTER - Dad!
0:24:28 > 0:24:32In July, 1895, Bethnal Green went to the polls.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35When the 5,000 or so votes had been counted,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Bhownagree had won with a majority of 160.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43White working-class Bethnal Green had sent
0:24:43 > 0:24:46an Indian immigrant to Westminster.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51There was an Indian MP for this place in 1895.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54He said, "We've had enough immigrants."
0:24:54 > 0:24:59Do you feel that Britain can still take some more?
0:24:59 > 0:25:03Britain can still take more, but quality not quantity.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Not everybody can come in, but quality, they should.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Bhownagree was the first Asian Conservative MP in Britain.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19It took another 115 years for a British Asian
0:25:19 > 0:25:21to make it into the Cabinet.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Yorkshire-born Conservative Baroness Sayeeda Warsi,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29like Bhownagree, believes government should control immigration.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32There are many, many people
0:25:32 > 0:25:35in Britain's migrant communities
0:25:35 > 0:25:38who have very conservative views about immigration.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40They absolutely believe that this is their country,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44this is their nation and that we should have controlled immigration.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48I've yet to meet somebody from black or minority ethnic communities
0:25:48 > 0:25:51who thinks we believe in complete open-door policies.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55A recurring story is the idea that immigrants who are successful
0:25:55 > 0:25:59then start looking down on the next wave of immigration and saying,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01"Well, I think, you know, it was fine for ME,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04"but let's kick the ladder away for the next lot."
0:26:04 > 0:26:06I think we have to work out
0:26:06 > 0:26:08why somebody believes in controlled immigration.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10If you speak to my parents,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14they seem to have so much more time for the newly-arrived immigrants
0:26:14 > 0:26:16whom, as my dad keeps reminding me, have the same work ethic
0:26:16 > 0:26:20that he had in the '60s and that my granddad had in the '50s.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22If anything, he thinks that
0:26:22 > 0:26:24some of the second and third generation Asians,
0:26:24 > 0:26:26as he keeps complaining,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29"Oh, they've got a work ethic that's become like the locals now.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32"They don't work as hard as we did when we first arrived."
0:26:33 > 0:26:37My dad's always moaning about the second and third generation Asians.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41Bhownagree said that economic problems could be blamed
0:26:41 > 0:26:43on "foreign pauper aliens".
0:26:43 > 0:26:46I mean, you're not entirely innocent yourself, are you?
0:26:46 > 0:26:49There was a leaflet in 2005 and you said,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51"The only effective way to bring down immigration
0:26:51 > 0:26:53"is to vote Tory and we'll do it."
0:26:53 > 0:26:56The point that I was making was that politicians have to find a way
0:26:56 > 0:26:59in which we talk about immigration -
0:26:59 > 0:27:02not in the way in which the BNP or UKIP do, at one end,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04and not at the other end, where we don't talk about it at all
0:27:04 > 0:27:07because it's considered to be off limits.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09We have to find a middle way. I would love to see a day
0:27:09 > 0:27:11when we can actually take the politics
0:27:11 > 0:27:13out of the debate on immigration.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Mm. Would you say politicians are too keen to use it?
0:27:16 > 0:27:20Your flyer from the time is pretty clear.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23It's saying, "If you want immigration to come down,
0:27:23 > 0:27:24"vote for me."
0:27:24 > 0:27:27The majority of people in this country, Ian,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30are not all for stopping all immigration or having open borders.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32They feel uneasy. They're in that middle.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36There is nothing wrong to say we believe in controlled immigration.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39It's when we use that debate to say to communities
0:27:39 > 0:27:42that you do not belong that it becomes problematic.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51So, today, Britain's immigrants and descendants of immigrants
0:27:51 > 0:27:54may be just as proud as Bhownagree of their Britishness.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59But do they share his views on other more recent arrivals?
0:28:00 > 0:28:02I do not want unskilled immigration,
0:28:02 > 0:28:06neither do I want immigration from Eastern Europe.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08That's why I voted for Brexit
0:28:08 > 0:28:11because I wanted this country to control its borders.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14I 100% disagree with what he said.
0:28:14 > 0:28:19That's saying that we are such a sort of precious item
0:28:19 > 0:28:21that nobody should come to our country.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24I have to say it is very British the way the two of you can disagree
0:28:24 > 0:28:28about absolutely everything but still remain friends.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30We have learned it from being British
0:28:30 > 0:28:34because we have developed the art of tolerating each other.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40A century ago,
0:28:40 > 0:28:44parts of Britain's inner cities were becoming noticeably less tolerant.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49After two decades of rising migration, there was pressure,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52above all from Evans-Gordon and Bhownagree's faction,
0:28:52 > 0:28:56for Britain's first ever immigration controls.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58But the government still didn't know
0:28:58 > 0:29:01if this was a national or a local problem.
0:29:01 > 0:29:07So, in 1902, it set up a Royal Commission to find out
0:29:07 > 0:29:10and the tireless Evans-Gordon was on the committee.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17Here's a list of the witnesses who gave evidence over the 49 days.
0:29:17 > 0:29:22Shoemaker, boot clicker, boot finisher, milk seller,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26undertaker, butcher, the Mayor of Reading,
0:29:26 > 0:29:29editor of Shoe And Leather Record...
0:29:29 > 0:29:32Everybody had a view on immigration.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36Spitalfields, which was formerly entirely occupied
0:29:36 > 0:29:40by English people, is now a second Palestine.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44These people have lessened the poverty.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48The Jews are an exceptionally dirty race
0:29:48 > 0:29:51and the Jewish bakehouses are insanitary.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56The health of the Jewish population is far more satisfactory
0:29:56 > 0:29:58than that of the Christian population.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03The new population is about the same as the old but the women drink less.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08Despite the wide range of opinions on display,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11the hearings were dominated by Evans-Gordon.
0:30:12 > 0:30:13He claimed to have asked
0:30:13 > 0:30:16the majority of the 30,000 questions himself
0:30:16 > 0:30:20and, in its final report, his influence is plain to see.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26Here it is, the important bit - the recommendations.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30And they certainly fit the Evans-Gordon agenda.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32"The state should," they recommend,
0:30:32 > 0:30:36"be allowed to refuse entry to undesirables,
0:30:36 > 0:30:40"viz, criminals, prostitutes, idiots, lunatics,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43"persons of notoriously bad character
0:30:43 > 0:30:47"or likely to become a charge upon public funds,"
0:30:47 > 0:30:52ie, they will have to be supported by benefits.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56In essence, the Commission concludes that, for the first time ever,
0:30:56 > 0:31:01modern peacetime Britain should be allowed to screen immigrants
0:31:01 > 0:31:04and turn away the ones it doesn't want.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10The government put the recommendations before Parliament
0:31:10 > 0:31:13but found it had a fight on its hands.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18In May, 1904, a letter appeared in the Manchester Guardian
0:31:18 > 0:31:20and The Times.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23The letter called the new proposals "a loathsome system
0:31:23 > 0:31:27"of police interference and arbitrary power",
0:31:27 > 0:31:29which would harass the simple immigrant,
0:31:29 > 0:31:33the political refugee, the helpless and the poor.
0:31:33 > 0:31:38It defiantly evoked the proud Victorian open-door policy,
0:31:38 > 0:31:43praising "the old, tolerant and generous practice
0:31:43 > 0:31:48"of free entry and asylum, to which this country has so long adhered
0:31:48 > 0:31:52"and from which it has so greatly gained."
0:31:52 > 0:31:56The author of the letter was a 29-year-old MP -
0:31:56 > 0:31:58Winston Churchill.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03Fresh from the Boer War,
0:32:03 > 0:32:06young Winston was first elected to Parliament in 1900.
0:32:09 > 0:32:10Impulsive and headstrong,
0:32:10 > 0:32:14he'd fallen out with other Conservative MPs over free trade.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21Now, he took on the Evans-Gordon brigade over immigration...
0:32:24 > 0:32:28..and launched a passionate campaign to keep Britain's door wide open.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35Churchill's letter was published for all to read, as a pamphlet.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39"To judge by the talk there has been, one would have imagined
0:32:39 > 0:32:42"we were being overrun by a swarming invasion
0:32:42 > 0:32:44"and ousted from our island.
0:32:44 > 0:32:49"This bill is expected to appeal to insular prejudice against foreigners
0:32:49 > 0:32:52"and to racial prejudice against Jews."
0:32:52 > 0:32:56For Churchill, Britain had come to a fork in the road,
0:32:56 > 0:33:00between being a free, open and tolerant country
0:33:00 > 0:33:03and one which was more closed, less liberal
0:33:03 > 0:33:05and one which he did not want to see.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10The day the letter was published,
0:33:10 > 0:33:12having lost patience with his own party,
0:33:12 > 0:33:14Churchill left the Conservatives.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18He joined the Liberal party
0:33:18 > 0:33:21and helped them force concessions from the government,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24including a commitment to take in all asylum seekers.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30The Aliens Act of 1905 was a watershed in British history.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33The principle that anyone could get off a boat
0:33:33 > 0:33:35and walk into Britain was gone forever.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40But the ambition to deter poor economic migrants,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43while protecting asylum seekers, created a dilemma.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47Britain now made a legal distinction
0:33:47 > 0:33:50between worthy and unworthy immigrants,
0:33:50 > 0:33:52but first, it had to tell them apart.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59Armed with the Aliens Act, Britain's new immigration officers
0:33:59 > 0:34:01now had to sort the arrivals.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Those deemed economic migrants were only allowed in
0:34:06 > 0:34:10if they carried £5, about £500 today.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14But there were ways to get around the rules.
0:34:15 > 0:34:16They would pass around...
0:34:16 > 0:34:19If they could lay their hands on a £5 note, they would pass it around,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22rather like football fans getting into a stadium with one ticket.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26I think England was quite a "soft touch", as they would say.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30And if things weren't confused enough,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33another force was keen to stoke the debate.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37Fear of foreigners sold a lot of newspapers.
0:34:41 > 0:34:42In the summer of 1900,
0:34:42 > 0:34:47Britain was stunned by bloodthirsty news from Peking.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49Men, women and children had been besieged
0:34:49 > 0:34:53inside the British Embassy compound by a horde of Chinese rebels.
0:34:55 > 0:34:56The Daily Mail broke the story
0:34:56 > 0:34:59and its account was quickly picked up by other papers,
0:34:59 > 0:35:00including The Times.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04"The Europeans fought with calm courage to the end
0:35:04 > 0:35:08"against overwhelming hordes of fanatical barbarians
0:35:08 > 0:35:10"thirsting for their blood,
0:35:10 > 0:35:14"until borne down by the sheer weight of numbers,
0:35:14 > 0:35:16"they perished at their posts.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19"They died as we would have had them to die,
0:35:19 > 0:35:23"fighting to the last for the helpless women and children
0:35:23 > 0:35:26"who were to be butchered over their dead bodies."
0:35:28 > 0:35:30It's an incredibly powerful piece of journalism.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32There was only one problem.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36The slaughter of the European men, women and children
0:35:36 > 0:35:38hadn't actually happened.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40It was fake news.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44In fact, international troops had broken the siege
0:35:44 > 0:35:46and the massacred Britons were alive.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51But the press had learnt a valuable lesson.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53The Chinese were great copy -
0:35:53 > 0:35:58exotic, mysterious and now, apparently, murderous.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02This was a picture that chimed with a growing fear in Britain.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05And that fear was best expressed by a new expression
0:36:05 > 0:36:09that had entered the English language - the "yellow peril".
0:36:13 > 0:36:17The British papers were now hungry for stories a little closer to home.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22Britain's Chinese community numbered fewer than 400
0:36:22 > 0:36:26but had already prompted whispers about opium and illicit sex.
0:36:27 > 0:36:32This was perfect press fodder. All it needed was a hook.
0:36:34 > 0:36:39In 1906, 32 poor Chinese immigrants arrived in Britain,
0:36:39 > 0:36:43mostly bound for the small Chinatown here, in Liverpool.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Under the new Aliens Act, entry was denied,
0:36:47 > 0:36:51but when Chinese shopkeepers and laundrymen promised work,
0:36:51 > 0:36:53an appeals board let them in.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57Liverpool was up in arms.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00Shouldn't British jobs be for British workers?
0:37:00 > 0:37:05And the press, above all, one reporter, scented a big story.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10Claude Blake was an American journalist.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14In 1905, eager for racy material,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18he hopped across the pond and followed his nose to Liverpool.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23He paid his way with lurid articles for British readers
0:37:23 > 0:37:27and, having seen the anti-Chinese hostility,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30he published a sensational expose.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38Blake lifted the lid on a jaw-dropping world
0:37:38 > 0:37:40of vice and corruption here, in Liverpool.
0:37:40 > 0:37:46The city's Chinatown had it all - squalor, crime, gambling dens,
0:37:46 > 0:37:51the seduction of underage English girls into a life of sex and opium.
0:37:51 > 0:37:52And he ends with a warning.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55"When they hear from their countrymen
0:37:55 > 0:37:59"that England is a good place where they're allowed to do as they like,
0:37:59 > 0:38:01"they will come here in droves."
0:38:04 > 0:38:06VOICEOVER: But was the story true?
0:38:06 > 0:38:11Anna Chen's father came to Liverpool from China in 1927.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15She's an expert on the "yellow peril" media storm.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20So, this is Claude Blake's article. I love the fact it's...
0:38:20 > 0:38:24It's very, very tiny type, but the crossheads are enormous.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26That first one, "Sinister Offspring" -
0:38:26 > 0:38:28- well, that'll be ME then.- Yeah.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31- "Perverted women". - Oh, that'll also be me.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34- "Fierce gamblers".- No, not so much.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36Blake says that, obviously,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39all Chinese homes are just fronts for criminal practices.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41What was the truth of this?
0:38:41 > 0:38:44Well, Liverpool City Council were so alarmed by his piece
0:38:44 > 0:38:47and by these claims that they set up an investigation
0:38:47 > 0:38:50into the Chinese community in Liverpool.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52And they found that, in fact,
0:38:52 > 0:38:56the Chinese were "the embodiment of public order".
0:38:56 > 0:39:01- That's quite a good quote.- It is. It vindicated the Chinese totally.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06Sex - let's get onto it cos Claude's there. What's his obsession here?
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Oh, dear! Well, he writes,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11"When you walk along a dark, dirty, evil-smelling street,
0:39:11 > 0:39:15"and see in each ill-lighted doorway a group of half-caste youngsters -
0:39:15 > 0:39:19"half-yellow and half-white - you must know that something is wrong."
0:39:19 > 0:39:21There is this tremendous fear
0:39:21 > 0:39:24of the pollution of the glorious white race.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27Was this a really big scare, the yellow peril?
0:39:27 > 0:39:29It was huge.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33Only days after Blake's piece in the Sunday Chronicle,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36the Liverpool Courier is now piling in, and this time,
0:39:36 > 0:39:38with pictures, with added illustrations.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42And look how simian they've drawn the Chinese.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46Here we are. They're excited gamblers and opium smokers.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49Was the opium essentially making everyone criminal?
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Well, the Chief Constable at the time said
0:39:52 > 0:39:55that no crimes resulting from it ever came to his attention.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57So, that was it? Nothing.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59Yeah, nothing, so it was a storm in a teacup.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08So, it seems some journalists a century ago didn't let the facts
0:40:08 > 0:40:11stand in the way of a good immigration story.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13And today?
0:40:15 > 0:40:17There's a lot of false news out there
0:40:17 > 0:40:20and I think it's all very blown up
0:40:20 > 0:40:22and people have a very big misconception
0:40:22 > 0:40:24on immigration in this country.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28"They're taking your jobs and they're making everything cheaper."
0:40:28 > 0:40:30Do you think our view of immigrants...
0:40:30 > 0:40:34- Do you think the newspapers blow it up a bit?- Yeah, course you do.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41In April, 2015, the press's contribution to the national debate
0:40:41 > 0:40:43came under intense scrutiny
0:40:43 > 0:40:47when the then Sun columnist Katie Hopkins said
0:40:47 > 0:40:49she would use gunships to stop migration
0:40:49 > 0:40:51and compared immigrants to cockroaches.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57We're looking at period where immigration became a huge topic
0:40:57 > 0:41:01for the press and it was immediately very popular.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03Why do you think that is?
0:41:03 > 0:41:06I think two things will always sell newspapers.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08One of them is Maddie McCann and one of them is migrants.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12- Did you read the piece that Claude Blake wrote?- Yes.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15I liked the idea of this historical reflection
0:41:15 > 0:41:19but it feels so modern, it feels completely contemporary,
0:41:19 > 0:41:21apart from the wording and the linguistics about it,
0:41:21 > 0:41:22which I sort of enjoy.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24It feels like a hugely contemporary piece.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29Um, you used the term "cockroaches" in a piece about migrants.
0:41:29 > 0:41:35Blake didn't go that far. Is that something that you still stand by?
0:41:35 > 0:41:36Mm, if you pick out one word
0:41:36 > 0:41:41out of a 800-word, 600-word whatever, piece...
0:41:41 > 0:41:43- It's quite a strong word. - It probably could stand alone.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46We were always taught that there were only a few people
0:41:46 > 0:41:48that could withstand, or few animals or few creatures
0:41:48 > 0:41:50that could withstand a nuclear holocaust.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53So, I was talking about the enduring nature of migrants,
0:41:53 > 0:41:57able to cross the Mediterranean and I used the term "cockroach".
0:41:57 > 0:41:58Your language...
0:41:58 > 0:42:01- You say the linguistics have changed since Blake.- Yes.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04In fact, you used the same words - "festering sores".
0:42:04 > 0:42:06That's what he says, that's what YOU say.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08I did say to you I admired his language.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Yes. I mean, you're proud of that, are you?
0:42:12 > 0:42:16I think I am honest about the fact that there's lots of London,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19there are lots of places where migrants live that aren't pretty.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23Those dosshouses, those mildew-infested places
0:42:23 > 0:42:25with fourteen people in a room designed for two.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27I'd love it if you came there
0:42:27 > 0:42:30and try to tell me that wasn't a festering sore.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32Well, you could say, "It's an offence against humanity,
0:42:32 > 0:42:34"it's time we did something about it."
0:42:34 > 0:42:37I don't feel the need to do anything about it.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40Well, the thing I would do about it, of course, is have our borders
0:42:40 > 0:42:44such that we don't have 600,000 people here that are here illegally.
0:42:44 > 0:42:45That seems nonsense to me.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48You referred to a "plague of feral humans".
0:42:48 > 0:42:52I mean, are they all feral? Is it actually a plague?
0:42:52 > 0:42:54Aren't they just a group of people?
0:42:54 > 0:42:57It's because you look at them and think, "You are nothing like me.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59"You don't understand how our culture works.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02"You think it's OK to molest a young boy in a swimming pool.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05- "You think it's OK to rape women..." - You say you've met these people.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Haven't you met any asylum seekers who you've talked to and thought,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11"You're an ordinary human being? You're not a feral human being"?
0:43:11 > 0:43:14I think these individuals from some of these cultures they come from
0:43:14 > 0:43:17ARE feral humans. I stand by those words.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19I used those words explicitly.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23I think I reflect the national conversation
0:43:23 > 0:43:25and I don't see that as hatred
0:43:25 > 0:43:28and I don't see that as distrust or mistrust.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32I see that as people wanting to protect the thing they love
0:43:32 > 0:43:34and this would be an interesting thing...
0:43:34 > 0:43:38- But do they do that by hating the other?- No, I don't see that at all.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40I'm just reading your stuff, thinking,
0:43:40 > 0:43:43- "This is filled with hate, isn't it?" A lot of it.- No.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45You really hate this, you hate that.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48- It's part of the shock jock genre, isn't it?- No, I just have very...
0:43:48 > 0:43:52If someone's been around for 12 years or so,
0:43:52 > 0:43:57speaking their version of truth, with a now massive audience,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00there's a reason that that's gained support
0:44:00 > 0:44:05and it isn't to do with speaking hate or whipping up frenzies
0:44:05 > 0:44:10or making people anti a "yellow peril", using your words.
0:44:10 > 0:44:15Er, it's because there is a sense that there is a whole world of stuff
0:44:15 > 0:44:17we can no longer say
0:44:17 > 0:44:21and it's because there's a whole world of state media
0:44:21 > 0:44:25that appear to be very biased in a particular direction.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29It's because of people like you that there are people like me.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33And I've always said this - that you guys, the liberal elite in London,
0:44:33 > 0:44:35are responsible for me.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39You are Dr Frankenstein and I am your monster.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Well, er, for me, one thing, at the very least,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49that's missing from that argument is compassion.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55Whilst debates rage on about economic migrants,
0:44:55 > 0:44:58many feel that Britain has a moral obligation
0:44:58 > 0:45:00to help those in genuine danger.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05Remarkably, the greatest demonstration
0:45:05 > 0:45:09of this vision of Britain came at the most hostile time of all.
0:45:18 > 0:45:23I'm in Folkestone, canvassing opinions on a revealing painting.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32- Where do you think this picture is? - Globally?- Yep, globally.- Um...
0:45:32 > 0:45:35- Well, this is Folkestone.- Correct.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37And when do you think it is?
0:45:37 > 0:45:40- 1960s?- 1960s?!
0:45:40 > 0:45:44- You know all about sailing. - 16th century.
0:45:44 > 0:45:45Maybe 100 years ago?
0:45:45 > 0:45:48It's about the era of the Forsyte Saga.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51Could be around one of the wars, maybe the First World War.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54That's spot-on. And what do you think is happening?
0:45:56 > 0:45:59Looks like a bit of a welcoming committee.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01And who do you think they're welcoming?
0:46:01 > 0:46:05- I think some people not from this country.- Correct.- Yes.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08- They're refugees. - Oh, they're refugees.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11- They're Belgians.- Oh.- Oh. - Did you know that?- No.- No.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15This is the Belgian refugees coming across to Folkestone,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18where they were very warmly received.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21- You're no fun! You know this!- I do!
0:46:24 > 0:46:27And here's the real painting.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32The Landing Of The Belgian Refugees, August, 1914.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35And they are not being grilled about what their plans are
0:46:35 > 0:46:37or whether they're destitute or not.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41They are being greeted by an official welcoming party.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43Here are some ordinary English children,
0:46:43 > 0:46:46offering a plate of cakes to the refugees.
0:46:46 > 0:46:51And you notice they are well-fed, rosy-cheeked, well-dressed,
0:46:51 > 0:46:56in comparison to the pale, rather haunted-looking refugees.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02The Belgians are fleeing for their lives from the German army,
0:47:02 > 0:47:04which had invaded their country
0:47:04 > 0:47:07and started committing a series of civilian massacres.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12There was a full-blown humanitarian crisis.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15And the numbers of refugees arriving are extraordinary.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17During the First World War -
0:47:17 > 0:47:19and this is principally through Folkestone -
0:47:19 > 0:47:24over 250,000 Belgian refugees arrived in Britain
0:47:24 > 0:47:28and were fed, housed and welcomed.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30It was the greatest work of charitable relief
0:47:30 > 0:47:32in British history
0:47:32 > 0:47:36and it was thanks, above all, to one extraordinary woman.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43Lady Lugard had been colonial editor of The Times.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46She was the highest-paid female journalist of her day
0:47:46 > 0:47:50and even invented the name Nigeria.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56Back home, she became a great do-gooder.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58She was determined that Britain's door,
0:47:58 > 0:48:02closely guarded for wartime, should now be opened
0:48:02 > 0:48:06and that every single Belgian refugee should be allowed to enter.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11Less than three weeks after Britain joined the conflict,
0:48:11 > 0:48:14Lugard set up a War Refugees Committee
0:48:14 > 0:48:18and borrowed an office in central London.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22They found an empty room with no chairs and barely any ink or paper,
0:48:22 > 0:48:26but that morning's newspapers contained
0:48:26 > 0:48:27a letter from Lady Lugard,
0:48:27 > 0:48:31appealing not just for gifts of money and clothing,
0:48:31 > 0:48:35but also for people willing to offer English hospitality
0:48:35 > 0:48:37to destitute Belgians.
0:48:37 > 0:48:43That evening's post, somewhat to her surprise, contained 1,000 replies.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46The next day, it was 2,000.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51Lady Lugard had set in motion a huge wave of humanitarianism
0:48:51 > 0:48:53that, in the coming weeks and months,
0:48:53 > 0:48:55would sweep right across the country.
0:48:59 > 0:49:04Soon, there were over 2,000 relief organisations nationwide.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07Women volunteers carried out the bulk of the work,
0:49:07 > 0:49:11putting in up to 17 hours a day, 7 days a week.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15Lugard herself remarked,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19"It was a moment which unmistakeably revealed the heart of England."
0:49:19 > 0:49:23Other nations cast people out, Britain took them in,
0:49:23 > 0:49:26and that made us a country worth fighting for.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33The Belgians soon became a familiar sight.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35In a popular propaganda poster,
0:49:35 > 0:49:39the smaller woman's outfit would have instantly indentified her
0:49:39 > 0:49:40as Belgian,
0:49:40 > 0:49:44while a young woman in Torquay used the Belgians
0:49:44 > 0:49:49as inspiration for a new fictional detective - Hercule Poirot.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52Yet, as the war ground on,
0:49:52 > 0:49:57frictions started to emerge between Britons and their house guests.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59MUSIC: Rule Britannia
0:49:59 > 0:50:02The British, for example, loved fresh air.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11MUSIC: La Brabanconne
0:50:11 > 0:50:14But the Belgians thought draughts were unhealthy.
0:50:15 > 0:50:20MUSIC: Rule Britannia
0:50:20 > 0:50:24MUSIC: La Brabanconne
0:50:27 > 0:50:31And this wasn't the only complaint being muttered.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33Jane Mason from Folkestone said
0:50:33 > 0:50:37that the Belgians made the kitchens reek of garlic.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40Daisy Spickett from Pontypridd said
0:50:40 > 0:50:44that many of them were very, very difficult, expecting the earth.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47Mary Coules from Kent,
0:50:47 > 0:50:51who'd organised a girls' choir to raise money, wrote in her diary,
0:50:51 > 0:50:55"It may be true enough that Belgium saved Europe,
0:50:55 > 0:50:58"but save US from the Belgians."
0:51:01 > 0:51:05Despite the gripes, Britain extended its hospitality
0:51:05 > 0:51:09to Belgians large and small, right to the end of the war.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17A century on, volunteer organisations are, once again,
0:51:17 > 0:51:20matching refugees with British hosts.
0:51:21 > 0:51:2623-year-old Mario was training to be a commercial pilot in Syria
0:51:26 > 0:51:29but, after war began, he left for Britain.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33He now lives with Jennifer Nadel and her family.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39What did you expect when you said, "I'll put up a refugee"?
0:51:40 > 0:51:43I probably did have preconceptions.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46I had naively thought that I would, you know,
0:51:46 > 0:51:49have a young woman to stay because I have children
0:51:49 > 0:51:52and that's what you think will fit best into your household
0:51:52 > 0:51:55but it's young men that are most in danger and it's young men
0:51:55 > 0:52:01that flee here and get here and it's young men that need to be housed.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05OK, Mario, what everyone wants to know is why are you in Britain?
0:52:05 > 0:52:10Um, something happened the last six years in my country.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13Um, people started fighting between each other.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17It's everywhere in Syria. Something happen every day.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21Every building is, like, down and no have any life,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24no have any opportunity to stay there.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28That's why I'm looking for something to be safe, to carry on for my life.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31So, who's left in Syria?
0:52:31 > 0:52:37My mum and my sister and two cousins from my family.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39The story we've been covering is where,
0:52:39 > 0:52:42at the beginning of the First World War,
0:52:42 > 0:52:45the British people welcomed 250,000 refugees -
0:52:45 > 0:52:48that's men, women and children - into their homes,
0:52:48 > 0:52:52- in a very short period of time. Does that surprise you?- It does.
0:52:52 > 0:52:56And I think how fantastic and that it's the right thing to do
0:52:56 > 0:52:58and I don't know how many of those Belgians stayed here.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02- Nearly all of them went back. - Yeah, I mean that's why...
0:53:02 > 0:53:05There are so many myths about people who seek refuge here -
0:53:05 > 0:53:08that they've come here to stay, that they don't really need to be here,
0:53:08 > 0:53:12or that they've got some kind of criminal or dangerous intent.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15During the First World War,
0:53:15 > 0:53:19it was a patriotic gesture to let other people in,
0:53:19 > 0:53:21to share what you had.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23Do you think we've lost that?
0:53:23 > 0:53:25I think we have and I think it's incredibly sad
0:53:25 > 0:53:29that Britishness has somehow been appropriated to actually mean
0:53:29 > 0:53:32some kind of fortress mentality and drawing up the drawbridge
0:53:32 > 0:53:35to prevent those who are most in need from coming here,
0:53:35 > 0:53:39and how great would it be if we could just reclaim Britishness
0:53:39 > 0:53:41for what it was then,
0:53:41 > 0:53:46which is to open our homes and our arms to those who are in need.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50That was who we were and we seem to have lost our way big time.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53The usual argument is that that's fine
0:53:53 > 0:53:55until the numbers get too large.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58I would say, if it was your child that was in danger
0:53:58 > 0:54:00of being shelled or buried alive,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03numbers wouldn't make any difference to you,
0:54:03 > 0:54:05and if you look at what those tiny countries
0:54:05 > 0:54:07that are bordering Syria are doing,
0:54:07 > 0:54:10countries which have none of the resources that we have...
0:54:10 > 0:54:13We're the fifth richest economy in the world
0:54:13 > 0:54:15and we can't do more to help.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18That's just shameful, absolutely shameful.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25By the end of 2016, Home Office figures show
0:54:25 > 0:54:29that Britain had taken in around 13,000 Syrians,
0:54:29 > 0:54:32far fewer than the huge number of Belgians.
0:54:36 > 0:54:41But even back in 1919, the spirit of welcome they received was eclipsed
0:54:41 > 0:54:45by a changed mood, as the soldiers came home from war.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Labour shortages meant Britain had opened its door
0:54:49 > 0:54:51to workers from the Empire.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55While the white European Belgians had mostly gone home,
0:54:55 > 0:54:57these immigrants hadn't.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00The demobilised soldiers returned
0:55:00 > 0:55:03and they'd go down to the docks and the railway stations
0:55:03 > 0:55:05and find Africans and Asians, and they were outraged
0:55:05 > 0:55:09and, of course, the war had been fought to protect home and hearth
0:55:09 > 0:55:12and the idea was to create a home fit for heroes.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15I think the feeling was "Our needs must come first
0:55:15 > 0:55:17"at this desperate time",
0:55:17 > 0:55:19and also the whole of Europe was so shell-shocked.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23- And on the move.- And on the move. And so they rebelled.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29Throughout 1919, riots broke out across Britain.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32From Glasgow to South Shields to Cardiff,
0:55:32 > 0:55:35much of the fury was targeted at immigrants.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40Against this violent backdrop,
0:55:40 > 0:55:43new anti-immigrant laws were being drawn up in Parliament,
0:55:43 > 0:55:46restricting the employment and political rights
0:55:46 > 0:55:48of economic migrants.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52But the biggest change was for those seeking asylum.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56Back in 1905, the government had ring-fenced
0:55:56 > 0:55:58the rights of asylum seekers
0:55:58 > 0:56:01but, in 1919, Britain was in no mood
0:56:01 > 0:56:05to accept, protect or pay for foreigners.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09Immigrant and asylum seeker would be lumped together
0:56:09 > 0:56:10under one definition.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14Both were aliens and neither were particularly welcome.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20The Liberal party fought the abolition of the right to asylum,
0:56:20 > 0:56:22with a passionate speech from the opposition leader,
0:56:22 > 0:56:24Sir Donald Maclean.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29Maclean said, "One of the greatest claims for moral leadership
0:56:29 > 0:56:30"which this country has made
0:56:30 > 0:56:33"is the fact that we have never refused asylum
0:56:33 > 0:56:36"to all those poor and distressed subjects
0:56:36 > 0:56:40"of oppressed races who have sought asylum here.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42"Are we to wreck that noble tradition?"
0:56:45 > 0:56:48It was a sentiment the Victorians would have recognised.
0:56:48 > 0:56:53It's The Times, in 1853, declaring Britain the asylum of nations.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56It's Churchill, in 1904,
0:56:56 > 0:57:00praising those ancient traditions of freedom and hospitality.
0:57:00 > 0:57:02It's Lady Lugard saying, in 1915,
0:57:02 > 0:57:07that welcoming refugees revealed the heart of the nation.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11But if the ideal kept on being repeated down the years,
0:57:11 > 0:57:13then the echo had grown gradually fainter.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20In December, 1919, the new Act became law.
0:57:23 > 0:57:27It was the final step in the transformation of British attitudes,
0:57:27 > 0:57:29from the open door of the Victorians
0:57:29 > 0:57:32to a nation that guarded its borders.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36Unexpected arrivals, surprising attitudes,
0:57:36 > 0:57:39extremes of hatred and compassion -
0:57:39 > 0:57:43they'd all played their part in a fierce national debate
0:57:43 > 0:57:45that's still with us today.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50In 2017, immigration seems to be
0:57:50 > 0:57:53Britain's second favourite topic of conversation.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57I've met very few people who want to go back to Churchill
0:57:57 > 0:58:00or the Victorians' idea of a wide-open door.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03But I have found the struggles that Britain went through,
0:58:03 > 0:58:06when it first tried to tackle mass immigration,
0:58:06 > 0:58:09do have lessons and warnings for us today.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13Perhaps we should treat arguments about immigration
0:58:13 > 0:58:17in the same way we treat immigrants themselves.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20So, let's be cautious, let's screen the arguments for facts,
0:58:20 > 0:58:22let's check the background,
0:58:22 > 0:58:26let's try and differentiate between the helpful and the harmful.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31Let's close the door to political bandwagonning
0:58:31 > 0:58:33and press hysteria and racism.
0:58:34 > 0:58:39And let's allow in honesty and transparency
0:58:39 > 0:58:41and compassion and idealism,
0:58:41 > 0:58:44as well as common sense and self-preservation.
0:58:44 > 0:58:46It might work.
0:58:46 > 0:58:49You could call it an open-mind policy.