When Londoner Anoop Dhallu's father and uncles left Punjab for Britain in 1962, they had little idea they would face overt racial discrimination in their new country. At that time, British society was predominantly White, with only a small percentage of South Asians and Caribbeans adding diversity.

Anoop, barely 10 when he joined his father in 1970, recalls those traumatic days. "Racism was rampant. We were often targeted by racists. My father's generation wholeheartedly supported Labour because it always promised to protect us from racism."

An insecure community clung to the Labour Party. Election after election, the party's manifesto promised protection against widespread racism. The Labour Party, he says, was their political anchor because it "allowed new immigrants to bring families here".

Outgoing 77-year-old Labour MP Virendra Sharma once described the rampant racial discrimination of the time to this journalist. He recalled, "In the '60s, houses advertised 'available for rent but not for Asians and Blacks'. Outside clubs, signs read, 'dogs, Irish, nomads, and Blacks are not allowed inside'. When British people saw Indians, they said, 'we were their slaves, and now they are sitting with us'."

Labour was also popular among Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis because many were factory workers. Its policies on social justice, anti-racism, and workers' rights resonated with immigrants striving for better conditions. Labour's stance against racial........

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