Another way of looking at it is that apparently the piece of shite was stabbed by his own screwdriver - so if he hadn't armed himself with that to do a burglary, maybe he would still be alive. Actually I'm rather pleased he took it with him.
The topic under discussion in 1968 was racial discrimination. Up until then, it was perfectly legal to discriminate openly against people on the grounds of their race/colour in employment, housing, education, finance, and indeed every area of life. The Wilson government proposed the UK's first ever race relations legislation, making racial discrimination illegal in principle. Enoch Powell opposed this. He was explicitly in favour of racial discrimination and the racists who practiced it, and explicitly opposed to extending any rights to those who suffered from it. That is what his famous speech was about. If that isn't being a blatant racist, then what is?
No further action to be taken against the pensioner say the BBC, a very good decision and the right thing IMO
I think that is a misrepresentation. One paragraph from the speech. The third element of the Conservative Party's policy is that all who are in this country as citizens should be equal before the law and that there shall be no discrimination or difference made between them by public authority. As Mr Heath has put it we will have no "first-class citizens" and "second-class citizens." This does not mean that the immigrant and his descendent should be elevated into a privileged or special class or that the citizen should be denied his right to discriminate in the management of his own affairs between one fellow-citizen and another or that he should be subjected to imposition as to his reasons and motive for behaving in one lawful manner rather than another. It all depends upon how you interpret the word "discriminate" in the final sentence and whether a citizen has freedom to make choices under the law, which of course they always do. I agree that that speech, if made today, would be rightly condemned but back then I think it was an attempt to hold the government to account over legislation that could be seen to favour an immigrant over an "Englishman" and it was a legitimate debate to have during a period of intense social change. I do not see it as a call to "discriminate openly against people on the grounds of their race/colour in employment, housing, education, finance, and indeed every area of life". Since then evoking Enoch Powell to shut down debate has been used in the same way as the Daily Mail is today.
This was a slippery, weaselly speech. He briefly pays lip service to equality, but then argues for citizens' "right" to discriminate on any basis they choose - which in this context means race and colour. It amounts to saying that because racial discrimination has previously been lawful, it should go on being lawful; the rights of anyone who is not white count for nothing. Since Enoch Powell was an intelligent and well-educated man, he does not even have the excuse of ignorance or stupidity which many others could claim. His position was one of sheer malicious vindictiveness. Those who opposed civil rights in the 1960s are mainly embarrassed, ashamed, and apologetic today. There remain a few who are just as vile now as they were then.
There are those who still seek to shut down such discussions by attempting to use Powell or Hitler because there are some points in all speeches that are valid. I see his speeches not so much about colour but more about cultures clashing In regards to the subject, whether it is in the U.S. France, the U.K. etc young black men are being killed by young black men, if you hide from that you do them a disservice and you walk away blaming racism because whilst it is not, it is a conversation of truth you are uncomfortable with. It needs to be faced head on if we are to reduce the deaths of our young. As to the intent of the thread, I'm glad to see the old fella has been seen as having not committed any offence so he has been released and faces no further action. I understand due process it's just sometimes it seems so one sided in favour of the villains. I hope the old chap is now getting some emotional assistance from victim support as he's been through far too much
Luckily for me, I think this forum has some kind of exemption from political correctness. Otherwise they'd have come for me already...
His cousin was interviewed by the BBC with her back to the camera (after all, no member of a reknown criminal family wishes to be identified). Her gist was that the burglar was a victim, who had gone out on his regular nightshift, and not returned alive. How unfair it was that his health and safety had been so severely predjudiced...
Well y'know the old saying "You live by the screwdriver and..." Hopefully his cousin(s) family, friends and associates now know that burglary is a poor health choice and that they should get a real job before they come up against someone who isn't going to roll over and take their S**T
Lets hope the old gent gets to live in peace (if he's innocent that is) after this and the shits family don't make his life a misery.
You have no idea mate. There's a couple of printers I know that are gonna be dropped out of a helicopter soon.
On Saturday BBC Radio 4 is due to broadcast the text of Enoch Powell's notoriously racist "rivers of blood" speech, from just 50 years ago. This is highly controversial, to say the least. Still, it is part of history so it would be no good shrinking from studying and analysing it, just like any other historical event no matter how repugnant.
