Soon, the British debate on immigration was dominated by Enoch Powell, whose infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech in 1968 painted a dystopian image of British people being unable to get hospital beds, school places or housing because of the presence of immigrants. Photo: PA
The violent scenes last Thursday night would have been grimly familiar to anyone with a passing interest in Britain’s decades-long history of immigration and growing ethnic diversity.
As early as 1958, thousands of white men attacked black passers-by and black-owned property in the cities of Nottingham and London, in the context of increases in immigration from Britain’s then-colonies in the Caribbean.