Nigel Farage once sought the endorsement of former Conservative MP Enoch Powell, who infamously warned of ‘rivers of blood’ due to immigration in 1968, newly unearthed letters reveal. The correspondence, discovered in a university archive by the Telegraph, shows Farage unsuccessfully requested Powell’s backing for Ukip in 1994. The party later twice asked Powell to stand as a candidate.
Farage has long expressed admiration for Powell, calling him a political hero. While conceding that Powell was wrong about the inability of different races to mix, Farage maintains that the core of Powell’s immigration arguments remains valid. This stance has intensified accusations of racism against the Ukip leader.
Comedian and activist Russell Brand labelled Farage a “pound shop Enoch Powell” on Thursday night, warning that he required close scrutiny. Powell was dismissed from the shadow cabinet after his 1968 speech, which predicted racial conflict and opposed Commonwealth immigration and new race relations laws.
A Ukip aide defended Farage’s approach, stating that the endorsement request was motivated by Powell’s euroscepticism, not his views on race. Powell left the Conservatives in 1974 over Europe and later served as an Ulster Unionist MP.
