The Eye

It was 40 years ago today, that the UK’s Conservative politician, Enoch Powell made his views known on immigration, which has gone down in time as his “Rivers Of Blood” speech.

He was so named after he said, “Like the Roman, I seem to see the river Tiber foaming with much blood”

He advocated an immediate reduction in immigration, and suggested the implementation of a policy to encourage those immigrants already in the UK to return home.

At the time he was the MP for Wolverhampton South West.

His speech lead to him being removed from the shadow cabinet.

He left the Conservative party in the 1970’s as he was opposed to Edward Heath’s efforts to get Britain into the European Union, or the Common Market, as it was then known.

He became an Ulster Unionist MP for a number of years. He died, aged 85, in 1998.