20 April 1968: Enoch Powell makes his “Rivers of Blood” speech

Enoch Powell delivers his infamous and deeply divisive “Rivers of Blood” speech against Britain’s immigration policy, on this day in 1968.

“As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood.” So said Tory MP Enoch Powell, quoting Virgil in a speech given to the Conservative Association in Birmingham on 20 April 1968.

Britain was in a state of flux. What was left of the empire was fast evaporating – Mauritius went it alone just the previous month. But it wasn't just the empire; many feared that Britain was disappearing too. And the blame for that was laid squarely at the door of immigration.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

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