BBC faces criticism over airing Enoch Powell speech

Available for over a year

The BBC is defending a decision to air Enoch Powell's 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech on Radio 4. The Archive on 4 programme will broadcast the right-wing MP's anti-immigration speech voiced by an actor in full, for the first time. The decision is being criticised as an "incitement to racial hatred". The BBC said there would be "rigorous journalistic analysis" and the show was not endorsing controversial views. Historian Patrick Vernon talks about the impact of the speech on his childhood in this interview with UK Black's Devon Daley