A former regional daily editor has indicated his support for a blue plaque commemorating the controversial politician Enoch Powell.
Nigel Hastilow, who edited the Birmingham Post, said the MP should “be remembered” during a debate hosted by Wolverhampton daily the Express & Star to mark 50 years since Mr Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech.
Nigel was selected as a Conservative parliamentary candidate in 2007, but resigned after criticism of a column he wrote for the Express & Star in which he suggested Mr Powell had been correct to warn that uncontrolled immigration “would change our country irrevocably.”
He was a panelist at the Express & Star’s debate along with Labour city councillor and former Wolverhampton mayor Milkinder Jaspal, journalist and political commentator Nick Jones and ex-Conservative Wolverhampton South West MP Paul Uppal.
According to a report on the event by the E&S, when asked if a blue plaque commemorating Mr Powell, pictured left, should feature in the city, Mr Hastilow showed his support for the idea.
Nigel responded: “People of significance in history, whether you agree with them or disagree, should be remembered. Powell is arguably one of the greatest politician of the last century.”
Mr Uppal and Councillor Jaspal both disagreed, saying a blue plaque would not be welcomed, while audience members “overwhelmingly” showed opposition to the idea.
The debate, held on Saturday, was chaired by E&S editor Keith Harrison.
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You can always tell when the revisionists and re-writers of history are in ascendancy mode; their efforts to cast the past and the future of the United Kingdom exclusively in their mould become more numerous and intense. Factual accuracy and distasteful reality are not their concern; they wish to see and hear only those things that appeal to their particular prejudices and preferences.
Well, true history is fact and some of it was shaped irrevocably by people of whom many in today’s British society might disapprove. So get over it and learn to live in the real world. It’s not nearly as discommoding as many might think.
As for Powell, we still hear the same old rubbish about That Speech 50 years ago. There were then, and I dare say there are now, those who understand his classical allusions which still are mistaken for what today is called racism. Nonsense. It was nothing of the kind.
So, revisionists and re-write persons, please recognise that true history is unchangeable and stop boring the rest of us with your tedious bleating.
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Hear, hear, Sir.
Now let’s stick one on the house where the bloke who shot all those kids at Dunblane used to live. That was history too.
Pity they knocked Fred West’s house down, really, or you could have put one on that. The more the merrier.
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Perhaps Steerpike would also like to see all those documentaries about the career of Adolf Hitler and the rise of Nazism banned from our daily TV schedules. I can only hope that Steerpike is not, or was not, a member of our profession.
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Now, now Steerpike. Settle down, old thing. You’re becoming positively febrile and all without cause.
Digger wonders whether you are, or were, a member of our profession. Like him or her, I hope not for the simple reason you are ignoring one of the foundations of accurate, honest reporting – namely context.
If you are a properly trained journalist you will know and understand that context is everything. So let me explain simply why you’ve got it wrong in this case.
The context of this story is a small memorial to one who gave notable and valuable service to his nation and community. If you doubt that Mr Powell did that then I suggest you read some history and his biography before going off at half cock with a reply. Try reading with an unprejudiced eye. It does wonders for the comprehension that ought to follow study.
The two criminal individuals you mention do not fit the context. They did not contribute positively to history. They are worthy of no memorial at all except, perhaps, a clinical, academic study in the pages of some criminal psychiatry textbook. Such an entry would, of course, embrace the virtue of fostering comprehension with a view to achieving means of preventing such atrocities.
So do, please, try to take a clear view of issues and confine any comments to those that are relevant and in context.
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I think exnewsman’s use of the expression ‘what today is called racism’ probably precludes any sensible debate on this topic.
Give ’em enough rope…
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It’s encouraging, Steerpike that you’re able to say you think. As it happens in previous days, particularly those when we discussed and deplored such things at the NUJ annual conference, we called it something else. Then, the word used most commonly was Racialism which was practised by Racialists.
But of course the world moves on and with it goes language. One of the great strengths of our mother tongue is its ability to adapt. Innit?
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Steerpike: Having read your latest comment, I would gladly supply you with the rope. All that’s then needed is for you to comply.
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