Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech: When did he make the controversial address, and why was it was so inflammatory?

Enoch Powell’s highly controversial “Rivers of Blood” speech was made 50 years ago this week.

The politician’s address is considered to be one of the most inflammatory in modern British history.

It is widely believed to have been a direct attack on immigration and decried as racist, leading to Powell being dismissed from the Conservative Party.

Powell delivered the speech in Birmingham, days before a crucial stage of the 1968 Race Relations Bill.

When and where was the speech delivered?

On April 20, 1968, Powell gave a speech to the Conservative Political Centre in Birmingham.

It was a carefully chosen moment, and a carefully chosen intervention from the then shadow defence minister in the Conservative opposition of Edward Heath.

The speech came just days before a crucial stage of the 1968 Race Relations Bill, an Act of Parliament that made it illegal to refuse housing, employment, or public services on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins.

Why was it so controversial?

The speech is considered to be one of the most controversial and inflammatory in modern history made by a British politician.

The 45 minute address is widely believed to have incited racism against immigrants, and led to Powell being dismissed from the Conservative Party.

This year the BBC faced intense criticism for airing it on Radio 4, with many branding the broadcaster’s decision “appalling”.

The BBC defended its choice to air the speech, saying that there would be "rigorous journalistic analysis" and the show was not endorsing controversial views.

What did he say in the address?

In the speech, Powell proposed a policy encouraging people who had come to the UK from abroad to return their country of origin.

It included observations on immigrants taken from Powell's Wolverhampton constituents.

He said his constituents feared that in 20 years “the black man will have the whip hand over the white man”.

It ended with a reference to a line in Virgil's poem Aeneid when civil war in Italy is predicted using the phrase "the River Tiber foaming with much blood".

How did his fellow politicians react?

The address caused a political storm, making Powell one of the most talked about and divisive politicians in Britain.

In the aftermath of the speech, protesters took to the streets in support of Powell’s backing for the repatriation of immigrants.

And denunciations appeared in newspaper editorials attacking his “appeal” to racial hatred.

Leading Conservatives in the Shadow Cabinet were outraged by Powell’s address, with many threatening to resign from the front bench unless Powell was forced out.

Powell was later dismissed.