Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell (1912-1998) was a British politician and author who is perhaps best known for his xenophobic views on immigration (especially with regard to non-white immigrants), and for travelling by pogo stick[1]. To the shame of many rock guitar fans, Eric Clapton has on a number of occasions spoken out in support of Powell's desire to curtail the immigration of melanin-enriched people into Great Britain.[2][3]
Also noted for his 'mad staring eyes', distinctive diction and being one of the few British politicians instantly recognisable by his given name.
[edit] Rivers of Blood
Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech against immigration and the anti-discrimination Race Relations Bill in 1968, which was named after the mention of the river Tiber in the following extract, is widely quoted and referenced by immigration opponents.[4]
“”For these dangerous and divisive elements the legislation proposed in the Race Relations Bill is the very pabulum they need to flourish. Here is the means of showing that the immigrant communities can organise to consolidate their members, to agitate and campaign against their fellow citizens, and to overawe and dominate the rest with the legal weapons which the ignorant and the ill-informed have provided. As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see "the River Tiber foaming with much blood."
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Following the speech, there were numerous strikes supporting Powell, particularly by dock-workers, and polls showed that a significant majority of the population agreed with him; however, in Parliament cooler heads prevailed, and he was sacked from all government posts and relegated to the fringes of the Conservative party. Later, after encouraging a vote for the Labour Party in the February 1974 elections, he left the Conservatives and joined the Ulster Unionist Party, being re-elected to a different constituency in the snap election later that year. However, his days as a powerful political figure were over.[5]
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/3166933.stm
- ↑ Clapton's guitar 'genius' legacy, BBC News, 29 March 2005
- ↑ Eric Clapton, Wikiquote
- ↑ Full text of "rivers of blood" speech
- ↑ Powell ostracised