The Lives and Afterlives of Enoch Powell; The Undying Political Animal; First Edition

50 years after Enoch Powell's self-styled detonation in the form of his so-called 'Rivers of Blood' speech, this volume brings together contributions from international scholars in the field of history, political science and British studies, with new insights from hitherto unexplored archives. It investigates some of the key national and grassroots parameters which, from above and from below, led to Powell's violent irruption into the immigration debate in 1968. It apprehends Powell as a political and intellectual figure firmly established in the British Tory tradition, a tradition which was to shape the 1970s debate on race and immigration, and be avidly instrumentalised by the British far-right. It also analyses Powell's positioning vis-à-vis the Irish question, and apprehends Powell's late-1960s moment from an international standpoint, as one of the early stages of the conservative revolution which was to culminate in 2016 with Trump's election. Lastly, this book weaves a thread between Powell and another recent political detonation: Brexit. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of illustrations 8 Acknowledgements 9 List of contributors 10 Introduction 12 Reigniting controversy 12 No Iago, no Churchill 15 Populism, nativism, autochthony 16 Notes 22 References 22 1 Powell and after: Immigration, race and politics in Britain 24 Introduction 24 Migration to Britain from the Commonwealth, 1948–1981 25 The politics of immigration, 1964–1979: before and after Powell 26 Testing the impact of Powell and immigration 30 Analysis 1: Cross-tabulation analysis 31 Estimating the electoral impact of immigration before and after Powell 35 Powell’s legacy? Racial attitudes and partisanship since the 1970s 37 Conclusion 38 Notes 40 References 41 2 Wrathful rememberers: Harnessing the memory of World War II in letters of support to Powell 45 Memory peddling or Powell’s exploitation of the war 47 Displacement and disempowerment 48 Turning in their graves 51 What “finest hour”? 53 Welfare chauvinism 55 Conclusion: emotions in distateful movements 57 Notes 58 References 58 3 Powell and the media: an insider’s account 60 A family friendship put to the test by migratory dynamics 61 Powell learning the tricks of the journalist trade 65 Private aftermaths of a national furore 69 How Powell shaped my own career as a journalist 72 From Powell to Farage 75 Note 76 References 77 4 An international press review of the Powell moment (1968–1973) 78 Comparing Powell 79 Hard to pigeonhole 83 Holding a mirror to England’s racial problem 85 Immigrant communities: low-profile attitude, resilience, agency 89 Conclusion 91 Notes 92 References 92 5 The rise of the Runnymede Trust: Enoch Powell and the media wars 94 The genesis of Runnymede 94 A new organization in action 100 The media wars 102 Conclusion 107 Note 107 References 108 6 Enoch Powell, British nationality and the Irish question, 1968–1987 110 Irish citizenship and British nationality law 113 The belonging of Ulster Unionists 116 Prevention of Terrorism Act 1974 118 Irish voting rights 120 Conclusion 123 Notes 124 Bibliography 124 7 Enoch Powell, Julian Amery and debates over Britain’s world role after 1945 126 Empire 128 Europe 132 Conclusion 134 Notes 135 References 135 8 The end of an intellectual journey: How Alfred Sherman’s ideas on immigration and the British nation were framed by Powellism (1968–1979) 139 Introduction 139 Sherman’s relationships with Powell in perspective 141 Powell’s 1968 speech as a watershed in Sherman’s thinking. 142 New Right new racism 144 Sherman as the intellectual link between Powell and Thatcher (1976–1979) 148 The “Eurosceptic” dimension of Powellism: how and why Sherman misunderstood it in the 1970s 151 Conclusion 153 Notes 154 Bibliography 155 9 “Enoch was right” – the Powell effect on the National Front in the 1970s 158 The creation of the National Front and the impact of Powell’s April 1968 speech 161 A gulf separating a free marketer and Conservative like Powell from the National Front 163 The National Front’s strategy to harness Powell’s ideas and popularity 165 Powell was never one of them 168 Conclusion 171 Notes 172 References 173 10 The ambivalence of UKIP towards Enoch Powell’s legacy 175 Europe 176 Immigration 180 Populism 182 Conclusion 185 Notes 186 References 186 Conclusion 189 Note 197 References 197 Index 199 "50 years after Enoch Powell's self-styled detonation in the form of his so-called 'Rivers of Blood' speech, this volume brings together contributions from international scholars in the field of history, political science and British studies, with new insights from hitherto unexplored archives. It investigates some of the key national and grassroots parameters which, from above and from below, led to Powell's violent irruption into the immigration debate in 1968. It apprehends Powell as a political and intellectual figure firmly established in the British Tory tradition, a tradition which was to shape the 1970s debate on race and immigration, and be avidly instrumentalised by the British far-right. It also analyses Powell's positioning vis-à-vis the Irish question, and apprehends Powell's late-1960s moment from an international standpoint, as one of the early stages of the conservative revolution which was to culminate in 2016 with Trump's election. Lastly, this book weaves a thread between Powell and another recent political detonation: Brexit"-- Provided by publisher "50 years after Enoch Powell's self-styled detonation in the form of his so-called 'Rivers of Blood' speech, this volume brings together contributions from international scholars in the field of history, political science and British studies, with new insights from hitherto unexplored archives. It investigates some of the key national and grassroots parameters which, from above and from below, led to Powell's violent irruption into the immigration debate in 1968. It apprehends Powell as a political and intellectual figure firmly established in the British Tory tradition, a tradition which was to shape the 1970s debate on race and immigration, and be avidly instrumentalised by the British far-right. It also analyses Powell's positioning vis-a-vis the Irish question, and apprehends Powell's late-1960s moment from an international standpoint, as one of the early stages of the conservative revolution which was to culminate in 2016 with Trump's election. Lastly, this book weaves a thread between Powell and another recent political detonation: Brexit"-- 50 years after Enoch Powell's self-styled detonation in the form of his so-called 'Rivers of Blood' speech, this volume brings together contributions from international scholars in the field of history, political science and British studies, with new insights from hitherto unexplored archives. It investigates some of the key national and grassroots parameters which, from above and from below, led to Powell's violent irruption into the immigration debate in 1968. It apprehends Powell as a political and intellectual figure firmly established in the British Tory tradition, a tradition which was to shape the 1970s debate on race and immigration, and be avidly instrumentalised by the British far-right. It also analyses Powell's positioning vis-aa-vis the Irish question, and apprehends Powell's late-1960s moment from an international standpoint, as one of the early stages of the conservative revolution which was to culminate in 2016 with Trump's election. Lastly, this book weaves a thread between Powell and another recent political detonation: Brexit