The foreign-born population living in the UK now totals 4.9 million, or 8.3 percent of the population.

Figure 1. Net Migration to the UK, 1971 to 2005

Source: International Passenger Survey

The post-war UK policy model of immigration was established between 1962 and 1976, when three restrictive immigration laws and three antidiscrimination laws were passed. The immigration laws had an official objective of "zero-migration," and the three antidiscrimination laws, at least partly inspired by the U.S. civil rights developments, were instituted to improve what is commonly called "race relations." Thus, the policy was a two-track or dual approach.

The period between 1976 and 1997 — when the Conservative party was mainly in power — was one of continuity in immigration policy in an era of major economic and social policy change. Theof general policymaking. Under Blair, there has been a discernible move to include race equality as part of all policies. They are no longer simply a quid pro quo or one-half of a political agreement on immigration, the other side being restricted immigration.

However, the emphasis on integration marks a change from previous policy, which was (at least rhetorically) strongly supportive of a policy of multiculturalism. But to suggest, as some have done, that this position has regressed to one of assimilation is an oversimplification. The references to adaptation on the part of host communities — typically characterized by phrases such as "a two-way street" or a "two-way process" — show that policy has moved away from its multicultural pivot, but it is not clear to where it has