Thread: Was Enoch Powell wrong?

We have to be careful when discussing Powell.
He did not oppose all immigration in fact as Health Secretary he oversaw an influx
of migrants to work in the N.H.S. Powell was a highly educated man not a racist bigot.
He believed in equality before the law, that families should be kept together
and that any re-patriation policy should be purely voluntary.
Hi was disgusted at the failure of the political elite think through the possible long term consequences of their actions.
Transcripts of Powell's 1968 Birmingham speech are easily found in the Internet.
Many people who comment on the speech have never actually read it properly and
base their opinions on charactures created by journalists looking for sensational
headlines.
His basic argument, as I understand it, was that if levels of immigration were too high
(as he believed) then parts of the country would be changed beyond recognition and society would be unable to integrate the new arrivals.
He warned of a growth in "vested interests in the preservation and sharpening of racial and religious differences" - The example he used were Sikhs who happened to be in the news at time but you could easily substitue the reference with a more modern one to Islam.
His point (and that of John Stonehouse who he quoted), was that if you allow immigrant communities to maintain customs and practices inappropriate to this country you will end up with a society that is dangerously divided.
Looking around after years of being told to celebrate "diversity" it's hard to deny that he had a point.

Originally Posted by Charlemagne

Anti-immigrant bashing is hardly new. Hitler and Goebbels used it to much greater effect than Powell yet no one hails them as genius visionaries.

Wonder why?

Comparisons with Hitler are facile.
The Nazis stood for legalised in-equality, forced repatriation and of course murder. Powell opposed all of this and fought against it as a soldier.
It's not a question of "bashing" anyone and even the likes of Trevor Phillips can see we have problem.
If you have groups of people living in the same country who have very different views of their identity and don't share cultural ideas that are at
least compatible then you have the potential for trouble.
Powell could see this and was prepared to put his head over the parapet to
say so.
The question now is how do we deal with the tension before it's too late?
We won't achieve anything by sticking our heads in the sand and pretending
that everything is ok.

Originally Posted by Charlemagne

They also stood for anti-political correctness, the abolition of multi-culturalism, the preservation of the traditional German way of life, and German jobs for German people.

They also warned us about the dangers of immigration way before Powell jumped on the bandwagon.

The Conservative party and Labour party of the time also supported these things.
Are they Nazis too?

Originally Posted by Charlemagne

They were nowhere near as tough on immigration as the Nazis.

That's why this country became known as soft-touch Britain.

If you regard toughness as extermination then of course.