An Abnormal British Muddle (incl. lavatory humour)

The Council of Europe (home to European human rights) stated in its literature that the international community has long-recognised the privileged position of women in transnational (non-EU) marriages. This is because they can live in their husband's country as well as their own. Patricia Hewitt, long before becoming Tony Blair's Equality Minister, wrote that just as women had won the struggle for the parliamentary vote so they would defeat the Conservatives' 1979 election manifesto policy to stop foreign men using marriage to live in the UK. The comparison is just, though the result isn't. An energetic and determined campaign led to Mrs. Thatcher's Government not keeping its promise. Instead a policy was adopted of making it harder for foreign wives to live in the UK ("The Times", 29 May 1985, page 1.) For example, an income of at least £18,600 a year is required; and if the wife lives abroad for a certain time she loses her "Indefinite Leave to Remain". This latter is a disincentive to leave the UK, bearing in mind that if the husband dies she can only be in the UK as a tourist even if her only home is here. While it is normal for a woman to live in her husband's country, the UK is abnormal in preventing them from doing so. The UK is also abnormal in that, because of "equality" laws, foreign wives are entitled to deprive British men of work and promotion both because they are foreign and female. It would make more sense if foreign wives who leave their husbands lost their "Indefinite Leave to Remain" status. But to do that requires ID cards. And Britain's experiment with ID cards was that they should be voluntary (!) not compulsory. No wonder David Cameron abandoned the scheme. Besides, if children are involved the wives can shelter behind them. In c.1970 I knew an Englishman with a Japanese wife. They were not speaking to each other. And were in a battle for the house. She had just had a baby. I don't know the outcome. But it can be imagined. The introduction of the Commonwealth Immigration Act was deliberately delayed till June 1962 to enable as many people who wanted to to come here. The result was a rush of young men. In November 1962 the Japanese were no longer required to have visas to come to the UK. I thought: Britain is going in two different directions at once; making it harder for Commonwealth citizens to come here and making it easier for the Japanese. In 1967 I lobbied my Conservative MP about immigration. "But they fought for us during the war," he said with a smile. "Times have changed since then." He became hostile. A few years later he was made a lord. In 1975 on Radio 4s "Any Questions?" the first question was "This being International Women's Year what would the panel like to see?" The Presenter turned first to Germaine Greer. After much thought she replied: "I'd like to see a man clean the lavatory." (Much laughter ensued.) Greer, like Hewitt, is Australian. The novelist Mrs. Humphry Ward, also Australian, wrote in a Letter to "The Times", 23 May 1917, that it was an outrage that a rump Parliament extend the vote to women at such a time. 1975 was the year of the Sex Discrimination Act which governed the Equal Opportunities Commission. The EOC was a major campaigner in the struggle against the Conservatives' 1979 policy to stop foreign men living in the UK through marriage. But on 7 July 1983 the House of Lords determined the SDA did not apply to immigration control. Therefore the EOC spent public money illegally. Please see "How we got here" in this blog on 17 April 2016. Thanks!