On Saturday, BNP and EDL supporter Dean Everitt wheeled out the sequel to his Boston anti-immigration protest. The anti-immigration protest in Spalding was timed to fall on the anniversary of Enoch Powell’s famous race-baiting “Rivers of Blood” speech, which is no surprise given the politics of those organising it. 150 people turned up to the call for “No more immigration” which was a disappointment for the organisers who had hoped to build on the larger number at the Boston event. Again, the main speakers were UK Independence Party candidates fishing for votes.
The provocative link that was made to Powell’s speech should give some idea of what motivates the organisers of these events. “Enoch Powell was right” has long been a rallying cry for the far right and the former Conservative MP has been lionised by white power advocates. At the time of the infamous speech The Times said that Powell had “appealed to racial hatred” and he was immediately sacked by Edward Heath for inflaming racial tensions. Powell’s speech was a reaction against the introduction of the Race Relations Act which made it a crime to refuse housing, employment or public services to a person on the grounds of their colour, race, ethnic or national origins. Powell was opposed to equality, suggesting that it would lead to a situation in which “the black man will have the whip hand over the white man” as opposed to the other way around which he found acceptable.
The organiser of the Spalding protest, Dean Everitt, has made similarly alarmist statements in the past saying “The British person is being discriminated against in their own country” and that “We are not racist… but we are saying this place is now full and we should not have any more [migrants].” He is similarly scare-mongering and is merely afraid of losing his privileged status. Rather than see the problem as the capitalist system that only takes the cheapest workers and throws everyone else on the scrapheap, Everitt blames the hyper-exploited workers instead because they are an easier target for him to take his frustration out on.
Let’s hope this ugly movement is on the way out.