“Earlier this month, Nigel Hastilow, a Conservative Party parliamentary candidate, was forced to step down after he hinted that Enoch Powell may have had a point about immigration. Strikingly, Hastilow’s offence was simply to mention a forbidden name. His actual beliefs on immigration are, unfortunately, entirely mainstream: like his leader David Cameron, the PM Gordon Brown and numerous narrow-minded commentators, Hastilow thinks Britain is overcrowded and polluted by immigrants.
“But in evoking that dark Tory figure from Britain’s dark past, Hastilow uttered two words – ‘Enoch Powell’ – that are blasphemous today. Just as you cannot say the name Muhammad in a derogatory fashion in Sudan, so you cannot mention the name Enoch Powell in a favourable fashion in Britain. Or you will be robbed of your public role.”
