The bishop of Wolverhampton has joined opposition to a proposal to erect a blue plaque commemorating Enoch Powell in the controversial politician’s home city.
Clive Gregory said he strongly opposed the idea, which would be “widely interpreted as honouring Enoch Powell’s racist views”.
The Civic and Historical Society of Wolverhampton, where Powell served as a Conservative MP from 1950 to 1974, received an application from an unidentified person to honour Powell. A six-person panel will decide whether to accept the proposal.
Powell, who died in 1998, caused outrage when he delivered his rivers of blood speech in 1968. In it, he strongly criticised immigration, claiming constituents had told him Britain would not be worth living in. “It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre,” he said.
In a statement, the bishop said he was speaking on behalf of all major faith traditions in Wolverhampton in “strongly opposing the idea of a blue plaque to commemorate Enoch Powell”. The speech had been an attempt to stir up racial hatred, Gregory said.
“It is disingenuous to suggest that the conferring of a blue plaque on such a divisive figure would be a ‘neutral’ act. It would be widely interpreted as honouring Enoch Powell’s racist views and would no doubt provide a focus for those who wish to exacerbate divisions within our communities and undermine the values that bind us together as fellow citizens,” he said.
The suggestion that the proposal was neutral because Powell was a historical figure was misleading, Gregory told the Guardian. “People will take sides. There is a huge danger that this will become a kind of referendum on issues like immigration and Brexit.”
Gregory and the bishop of Lichfield, Michael Ipgrave, have signed a petition by the group Black Country Stand Up To Racism opposing the move.
In a letter to the plaques secretary of the Civic and Historical Society, it said: “As menacing forces of prejudice and hate once again gather across parts of Europe, we must remember where that led not so long ago. Instead of commemorating Powell, we need to resist those who would sow seeds of hatred, racism and division.”
It criticises an online poll in the Wolverhampton Express and Star asking readers whether Powell should have a plaque erected in his memory. The paper said more than 3,000 people had voted in the 36 hours since it went online, with two-thirds in favour.
The then Tory leader Ted Heath sacked Powell from the shadow cabinet after his speech, triggering a protest strike and march by London dockers. Porters at Smithfield meat market also went on strike in support of Powell.
