I don't understand how the 'Rivers of Blood' speech could be thought of as anything other than Racist, and Simon Heffer's article in the Telegraph defending it the other day,  was nothing short of disgraceful, and here Neil Hamilton has come out and done the same.

If Enoch had said 'Immigration is going to change our country irreversibly' he would have been right. But he didn't. If he had said there is a risk that our public services might be stretched, he would have been right. But he didn't. If he had simply said that our immigration policies were damaging the country, he might (though not in my opinion have been right). But he didn't.

Anybody who has read the speech knows that Enoch Powell used delibarately inflamatory language in racial contexts which cannot be thought of anything other than Racist. I'm thinking in particular of the anecdote of his constituent which he claimed he completely agreed with, who didn't want 'coloureds' living in her tenement, and Enoch's assertion that in a short time, I believe the phrase he uses is 'black man' will have the 'whip-hand' other the exclusively 'white' british.

Enoch was right my arse. And everyone, Conservative or Labour can agree on that. There is no point in trying to present division where there is none. Both parties know the Enoch speech was racist, and it would be better for the Labour Party, rather than trying to present the Tories as Racist to condemn equally scum like Heffer and Hamilton.

In reference to Halistow, I'm in two minds about this. It depends whether Halistow was simply ignorant or deliberately racist. If he thought Immigration needs to be controlled due to public service resources, then there needs to be a sensible debate on that. But if he actually realised that he was endorsing the comments of Powell in their racial overtones, then he should have been sacked. But even then I wonder about the role of the central party in such matters. I suppose I'm glad that given the apparently racist nature of large sections of the British Public that there is at least the semblence of moderation in Britain's main three Political Parties.