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The Rest Is History

606. Enoch Powell: Rivers of Blood

The Rest Is History

Goalhanger

History

4.618.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Who was Enoch Powell, the deeply controversial British conservative politician? Why is he the father of Brexit, and possibly even Reform? And, how did he come to make his inflammatory ‘Rivers of Blood speech’, in 1968?    Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Enoch Powell - one of the most incendiary and contentious figures in all of British political history - and his enduring shadow today. Start generating your own greener electricity for less, with £500 off Solar. Visit https://www.hivehome.com/history for more information. T&Cs apply* *Output and savings varies by season, electricity usage and system size. Paid-for surplus requires an eligible SEG tariff. Offer for new customers only. Ends 17th November. Learn more at https://www.uber.com/onourway Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Senior Producer: Theo Young-Smith Producer: Tabby Syrett Assistant Producer: Aaliyah Akude  Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:02.3

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0:04.0

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0:06.8

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0:09.5

go to therestishistory.com and join the club.

0:13.2

That is, the rest-aged, quite ordinary working man.

0:33.8

After a sentence or two about the weather, he suddenly said, if I had the money to go, I wouldn't stay in this country.

0:41.1

I have three children.

0:42.9

I shall be satisfied till I have seen them all settled overseas.

0:46.8

In this country, in 15 or 20 years time, the black man will have the whip hand over the white man.

0:54.4

I can already hear the chorus of execration.

0:58.3

How dare I say such a horrible thing?

1:01.1

How dare I stir up trouble and inflame feelings by repeating such a conversation?

1:06.6

The answer is that I do not have the right not to do so.

1:10.6

Here is a decent, ordinary fellow Englishman, who in broad daylight in my own town says to me,

1:16.5

is a member of parliament, that this country will not be worth living in for his children.

1:21.6

I simply do not have the right to shrug my shoulders and think about something else.

1:27.2

What he is saying, thousands and hundreds of thousands are saying and thinking,

1:32.7

in the areas that are already undergoing the total transformation to which there is no

1:36.7

parallel in a thousand years of English history.

1:40.5

So the unmistakable tones there of John Enoch Powell, who was MP for Wolverhampton Southwest,

1:49.2

and he is beginning what is perhaps, in fact, I would say, certainly the single most incendiary speech in British political history.

...

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