He was just a little bit out with his calculations....
"In 1968 he predicted that by the year 2000, seven million people living in Britain would be of ethnic descent .
The Census in 2001 showed 4.6 million people living in the UK were from an ethnic minority, or 7.9% of the population."
Well, add to that 4.6 million the estimated 500,000 illegals (source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4637273.stm) and we are up to 5.1 million.
Then there is the backlog of asylum seekers, which the 'home office' originally estimated to be around 280,000, but admits to suddenly finding '400,000 to 450,000 case files' (source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5193018.stm).
Thats potentially 5.6 million.
Add in the Polish immigrants - around 680,000, and were pretty near to the 7 million predicted... im sure we can make that figure in a few months when we open the doors to yet more countries.
So, he might have been a couple of years out, but bearing in mind recent events, he was certainly right.
From the BBC 'On this day' coverage of his speech...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/d...00/2489357.stm
Addressing a Conservative association meeting in Birmingham, Mr Powell said Britain had to be mad to allow in 50,000 dependents of immigrants each year.
He compared it to watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre.
The MP for Wolverhampton South West called for an immediate reduction in immigration and the implementation of a Conservative policy of "urgent" encouragement of those already in the UK to return home.
"It can be no part of any policy that existing families should be kept divided. But there are two directions on which families can be reunited," he said.
In Context
Enoch Powell's so-called "Rivers of Blood" speech was his defining political moment.
It led to him being sacked from the shadow cabinet, ending his hopes of a post in a future Conservative government.
However, thousands of workers staged strikes and marches in support of his views and he was inundated with letters from well wishers.
In February 1974 Enoch Powell left the Conservative party because of his opposition to Edward Heath's intention to join the European Community.
He became an Ulster Unionist and represented the seat of Down South, Northern Ireland, from 1974 to 1992.
He died in 1998 aged 85.
In 1968 he predicted that by the year 2000, seven million people living in Britain would be of ethnic descent .
The Census in 2001 showed 4.6 million people living in the UK were from an ethnic minority, or 7.9% of the population.
"In 1968 he predicted that by the year 2000, seven million people living in Britain would be of ethnic descent .
The Census in 2001 showed 4.6 million people living in the UK were from an ethnic minority, or 7.9% of the population."
Well, add to that 4.6 million the estimated 500,000 illegals (source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4637273.stm) and we are up to 5.1 million.
Then there is the backlog of asylum seekers, which the 'home office' originally estimated to be around 280,000, but admits to suddenly finding '400,000 to 450,000 case files' (source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5193018.stm).
Thats potentially 5.6 million.
Add in the Polish immigrants - around 680,000, and were pretty near to the 7 million predicted... im sure we can make that figure in a few months when we open the doors to yet more countries.
So, he might have been a couple of years out, but bearing in mind recent events, he was certainly right.
From the BBC 'On this day' coverage of his speech...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/d...00/2489357.stm
Addressing a Conservative association meeting in Birmingham, Mr Powell said Britain had to be mad to allow in 50,000 dependents of immigrants each year.
He compared it to watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre.
The MP for Wolverhampton South West called for an immediate reduction in immigration and the implementation of a Conservative policy of "urgent" encouragement of those already in the UK to return home.
"It can be no part of any policy that existing families should be kept divided. But there are two directions on which families can be reunited," he said.
In Context
Enoch Powell's so-called "Rivers of Blood" speech was his defining political moment.
It led to him being sacked from the shadow cabinet, ending his hopes of a post in a future Conservative government.
However, thousands of workers staged strikes and marches in support of his views and he was inundated with letters from well wishers.
In February 1974 Enoch Powell left the Conservative party because of his opposition to Edward Heath's intention to join the European Community.
He became an Ulster Unionist and represented the seat of Down South, Northern Ireland, from 1974 to 1992.
He died in 1998 aged 85.
In 1968 he predicted that by the year 2000, seven million people living in Britain would be of ethnic descent .
The Census in 2001 showed 4.6 million people living in the UK were from an ethnic minority, or 7.9% of the population.
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