Powell's racism
Sir: Rod Liddle implies (Don't mention Enoch' 10 November) that Enoch Powell's 1968 speech was not racist, and that his comments were taken out of context. This is a case of argumentum ad ignorantiam, for it is Mr Liddle who has taken Enoch Powell's words out of context and misrepresented his speech.
The main thrust of Enoch Powell's speech, which became self-evident following his TV and radio interviews in 1968, was directed against coloured, not white immigration, for he regarded the former as harbingers of future social instability and racial tension. It was this aspect of Powellism which made his speech and his name anathema to Sir Edward Heath and future British politicians.
Enoch Powell may have been proved right on many issues (the EU, for example), but on immigration, I am happy to say, he has been proved wrong. He predicted widespread race riots, which did not materialise; on the contrary, Britain witnessed IRA terrorism. Even the 717 paroxysm, as subsequent inquiries have revealed, was not motivated by race.
Randhir Singh Bains Gants Hill, Essex
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