Enoch Powell Rivers Of Blood speech – what time is 50 Years On on Channel 5 tonight and who has called it ‘racist’?
Here's everything you need to know about the controversial MP and his incendiary words
HALF a century ago, Enoch Powell's explosive anti-immigration speech divided public opinion and led to his sacking.
Channel 5 are broadcasting a documentary about the Rivers Of Blood speech tonight. But what was in the speech, who was the Tory MP who delivered it and who called it "racist"? Here's the lowdown.
What is the Rivers Of Blood speech and where does the phrase come from?
British MP Enoch Powell gave the speech on April 20, 1968, at a meeting of the Conservative Political Centre in Birmingham.
The televised speech strongly criticised mass immigration, in particular Commonwealth immigration to the UK and the then-proposed Race Relations Bill.
In it, Powell recounts a conversation he allegedly had with one of his constituents, who claimed he didn't see a future in the UK for his children due to immigration.
Powell added: "We must be mad, literally mad, as a nation to be permitting the annual inflow of some 50,000 dependents, who are for the most part the material of the future growth of the immigrant descended population."
The speech caused a political storm, making Powell one of the most divisive politicians in the country.
Then Conservative leader Ted Heath was quick to sack him, and publicly stated it was "racialist in tone and liable to exacerbate racial tensions".
Newspapers at the time also blasted the content. The Times declared it "an evil speech", stating: "This is the first time that a serious British politician has appealed to racial hatred in this direct way in our postwar history."
Not all were against the speech, with Powell winning support across the country for his outspoken views.
Three days after the speech, on 23 April, as the Race Relations Bill was being debated in the House of Commons, 1,000 dockers marched with slogans such as "we want Enoch Powell!" and "Enoch here, Enoch there, we want Enoch everywhere" on Westminster protesting against the "victimisation" of Powell.
Margaret Thatcher even said that Powell had "made a valid argument, if in sometimes regrettable terms" in an interview for Today, shortly after her departure from office as Prime Minister in 1990.
The speech has gone down in history as the Rivers Of Blood speech - though those exact words are not used.
It refers to a line from Virgil's Aeneid quoted by Powell: "As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood."
The Race Relations Act was passed shortly after Powell's speech, making it illegal to refuse housing, employment or public services to a person on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins.
Who was Enoch Powell?
Born in 1912, John Enoch Powell was a politician, poet and linguist who served as an MP for a total of four decades.
Son of a primary school headmaster and his wife, Enoch grew up in Birmingham and later studied at Trinity College, Cambridge.
He himself became a professor of Ancient Greek at the age of 25 in Australia, but returned to the UK to enlist in the British Army as the First World War broke out.
He first became a Conservative MP in 1950, and quickly rose within the ranks.
His fame grew when he delivered his Rivers of Blood speech in 1968 - though it resigned him to the back benches for the rest of his career.
Edward Heath sacked Powell from his position as shadow defence secretary days after the controversial utterings.
And in 1970, Powell turned on the Tories by endorsing a vote for Labour, which served as a minority government in early March of that year.
He returned to the House of Commons in October 1974 as the Ulster Unionist Party MP for the Northern Irish constituency of South Down, and was defeated there at the 1987 general election.
Powell married Pamela Wilson in 1952, with whom he had two children.
The talented linguist learnt 14 languages in his lifetime. In 1992, aged 80, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and he died eight years later.
Who has called it racist?
The speech has been decried as racist on both ends of the political spectrum since it first aired 50 years ago.
Lord Adonis is one of a number of public figures to slam the BBC's plans to reproduce the speech on radio for the first time in full.
He called for the broadcast to be cancelled and has written to Ofcom to complain.
The Labour peer wrote on Twitter:"What is happening to our public service broadcaster?"
He said the speech was the "worst incitement to racial violence by a public figure in modern Britain".
"Obviously this matter will be raised in parliament" should the broadcast go ahead, he wrote to Ofcom.
MOST READ NEWS
When will it air in full on Channel 5?
Rivers Of Blood: 50 Years On is due to air at 10pm on Friday, April 20, 2018.
The documentary is aiming to explore the 50 years since the speech was made.
It will feature archive footage and personal testimonies.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
