Politician’s remarks were an ‘accurate prediction’ of what happened in the UK with migration, says an audience member at the Tory conference
The Tories must “unsmear” Enoch Powell over his infamous “rivers of blood” speech, a Conservative Party Conference attendee has said.
An audience member told a debate on immigration and border security that the remarks made by the Conservative politician in 1968 were “a fair and accurate prediction” of what happened in the UK with migration.
The attendee, who identified himself as Christian Hacking, said: “Enoch Powell made what is now a highly Conservative speech in 1968 for which he was smeared and kicked out of the Conservative Party.
“Are the Conservatives willing to apologise and unsmear his name for what in hindsight has been quite a fair and accurate prediction of what came, which is not ‘rivers of blood’, he never actually said ‘rivers of blood’, but actually … heinous crimes have been committed by some of these unidentified individuals.”
It was not clear if the speaker was a Conservative Party member.
He added: “Surely it’s about time we made a statement saying that Enoch shouldn’t have been treated the way he was for the statement he made.”
There was very light applause for the contribution from inside the hall, before the debate continued.
A Conservative Party spokesman later said of the remarks: “This is not the view of our party”.
The Liberal Democrats said that the four contenders for the Conservative leadership should “immediately condemn” these comments.
A Liberal Democrat spokesman said that the party and leadership candidates should “make it clear that support for Enoch Powell has no place in the Conservative Party”.
Powell used a speech at a Conservative Association meeting in Birmingham to criticise the anti-discrimination Race Relations Bill, warning that migration would lead to violence. He said: “As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see ‘the River Tiber foaming with much blood’.”
He was immediately sacked from the shadow cabinet after his speech by Edward Heath, the then Conservative leader.
Concluding the debate about immigration at the Conservative Party Conference, Paul Holmes, the shadow immigration minister, said: “I’m delighted to have been able to hear your views, the challenges and the opportunities that you outlined as our members … have given us this morning.
“As shadow immigration minister, they’ve given me a lot to go on, I assure you, and this will shape our offer to the British people going forward.
“We all know the UK is a fair and tolerant country, and legal immigration has its place. We have provided safety to people fleeing conflicts and persecution in Ukraine, Hong Kong and Afghanistan.
“We have welcomed doctors and nurses from around the world into our NHS, and we have gladly accepted those who have offered their skills and experience to contribute to our economy and our communities. That is always the right thing to do.”
Members’ debates were brought back to the conference this year for the first time in two decades.
Richard Fuller, the interim Tory chairman, said in August that they would show the importance of free speech.
