Politics - Rivers of Blood

Forty years after Enoch Powells infamous speech predicting that mass immigration would lead to violence on our streets, filmmaker Denys Blakeway explores the impact of the maverick Conservative MPs words and legacy. Powell was a member of Edward Heaths Shadow Cabinet when he made the Rivers of Blood speech in 1968, so-called because he quoted the Roman poet Virgils prophesy: I see the Tiber foaming with much blood. He was immediately sacked, but not before sparking furious debate, with his words dividing the nation. This film examines Powells speech in unprecedented detail, discovering how his core argument was ignored in favor of his incendiary language. It questions what led him to speak out in the first place and traces the speechs effect on immigration policy in Britain.