Editing James Callaghan (section)

===Home secretary, 1967–1970===
Callaghan was responsible for the [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968]], a controversial piece of legislation prompted by Conservative assertions that an influx of [[Kenyan Asian]]s would soon inundate the country. It passed through the Commons in a week and placed entry controls on holders of British passports who had "no substantial connection" with Britain by setting up a new system. In his memoirs ''Time and Chance'', Callaghan wrote that introducing the Commonwealth Immigrants Bill had been an unwelcome task but that he did not regret it. He said the Asians had "discovered a loophole", and he told a BBC interviewer: "Public opinion in this country was extremely agitated, and the consideration that was in my mind was how we could preserve a proper sense of order in this country and, at the same time, do justice to these people{{snd}}I had to balance both considerations". An opponent of the Act, Conservative MP [[Ian Gilmour]], said that it was "brought in to keep the blacks out. If it had been the case that it was 5,000 white settlers who were coming in, the newspapers and politicians, Callaghan included, who were making all the fuss would have been quite pleased".<ref>Lattimer, Mark (22 January 1999), [https://www.newstatesman.com/when-labour-played-racist-card When Labour played the racist card] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905192357/https://www.newstatesman.com/when-labour-played-racist-card |date=5 September 2015}}, ''[[New Statesman]]''.</ref>

Also significant was the passing of the [[Race Relations Act 1968|Race Relations Act]] in the same year, making it illegal to refuse employment, housing or education on the basis of ethnic background. The Act extended the powers of the [[Race Relations Board]] at the time, to deal with complaints of discrimination and unfair attitudes. It also set up a new supervisory body, the Community Relations Commission, to promote "harmonious community relations".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/26/newsid_3220000/3220635.stm |title=BBC ON THIS DAY &#124; 1968: Race discrimination law tightened |publisher=BBC News |date=26 November 1983 |access-date=30 April 2010 |archive-date=6 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206192711/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/26/newsid_3220000/3220635.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> Presenting the Bill to Parliament, Callaghan said: "The House has rarely faced an issue of greater social significance for our country and our children."

====Northern Ireland====
[[File:James Callaghan and James Chichester-Clark 1970.jpg|thumb|Callaghan in 1970 (left), with [[Prime Minister of Northern Ireland]] [[James Chichester-Clark]]]]
Callaghan's tenure as home secretary was marked by the emerging conflict in [[Northern Ireland]]: Like all British governments since the [[partition of Ireland]] in 1921, Harold Wilson's Labour government preferred not to intervene in the affairs of Northern Ireland. However in August 1969, [[1969 Northern Ireland riots|escalating sectarian violence]] between the province's [[Ulster Protestants|Protestant]] and [[Irish Catholics|Catholic]] communities, gave the [[Government of Northern Ireland (1921–1972)|Government of Northern Ireland]] little choice but to ask the British government to intervene directly and send in troops, and it was as home secretary that Callaghan took the decision to [[Operation Banner|deploy British Army troops]] in the province. In return Callaghan and Wilson demanded that various reforms be implemented in the province, such as the phasing out of the Protestant paramilitary [[B-Specials]], and their replacement by the [[Ulster Defence Regiment]], which was open to Catholic recruits, and various reforms to reduce discrimination against Catholics, such as reforms to the voting franchise, and a reform of local government boundaries and housing allocations. Although the troops were initially welcomed by Northern Ireland's Catholics, by early 1970 this had soured, and the [[Provisional IRA]] emerged, and embarked on what became a decades long violent campaign during what became known as [[The Troubles]].{{sfn|Conroy|2006|pp=64–71}}

====In Place of Strife====
In 1969, Callaghan, a strong defender of the Labour–trade union link, led the successful opposition in a divided cabinet to [[Barbara Castle]]'s [[White Paper]] "[[In Place of Strife]]" which sought to modify trade union law. Amongst its numerous proposals were plans to force unions to call a ballot before a strike was held and the establishment of an Industrial Board to enforce settlements in industrial disputes.{{sfn|Conroy|2006|pp=59–64}} Ten years later, Callaghan's actions in opposing trade union reform would come back to haunt him during the [[Winter of Discontent]].<ref name="Davies336">{{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=A. J. |title=To Build a New Jerusalem |date=1996 |page=336|publisher=Abacus |isbn=0-349-10809-9}}</ref>