Three Pounds in My Pocket

Available for over a year

Kavita Puri hears the stories of the early migrants who came to post-war Britain from the Indian subcontinent. Many arrived with as little as £3 - strict currency exchange controls meant they couldn't bring in any more. In this second episode, she picks up the story of the three pound generation from the late 1960s to 1981, starting in the pivotal year of 1968. The British government had passed the Race Relations Act and the conservative Politician Enoch Powell had divided the nation with his impassioned warnings about the effects of immigration on British society. By the early 1970s the numbers from the Indian subcontinent had increased with family reunions, and people fleeing Bangladesh following the war of Independence in 1971. Asians also came from Kenya and Uganda, following political turmoil there. With larger numbers, the community became more visible. The atmosphere on the street was changing - in contrast to the post-war years - where many had been greeted with curiosity. Racist abuse became commonplace as immigration became a charged political issue. From 1976 onwards there were confrontations and street battles across the country, in largely immigrant towns, between the far-right National Front and anti-racist organisations. Many from the first generation shied away from conflict and ignored racist abuse. The younger generation - many born here - fought back. "We are likely to die in this country," one interviewee says, "so if it means staying and fighting that's what we will have to do, and we won't give an inch."