Windrush

Living in the Shadow of Empire State Britain and the Problem of Cultural Dementia Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, April 19th 2018 The UK has been an uncomfortable place in the last few days. There has been the controversy over the Windrush deportations, Tory Cabinet minister Esther McVey defending the rape clause at the Scottish Parliament as ‘non-invasive’, and the resuscitation of Enoch Powell’s ‘rivers of blood’ 1968 speech from beyond the grave. On top of this there has been the Trump-led bombing of Syria, backed by UK and French forces, without parliamentary vote or international approval. We have to understand

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Enoch Powell’s Ghost and Bigotry still haunts modern Britain Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, April 17th 2018 This week sees the 50^th anniversary of Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech which occurred on April 20^th 1968, with the BBC deciding to recreate it and broadcast on ‘Archive on 4’ - read by actor Ian McDiarmid. The speech has never been broadcast before in full, and this decision hasn’t been without controversy, both before and afterwards. It was an extraordinary experience to hear this much cited, even legendary, speech in its entirety - 45 minutes of powerful, passionate, and shockingly over

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