Trojan Horse row vindicates Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech claims Tory MP

Sir Gerald Howarth said recent revelations about the activities of Islamists in Birmingham schools showed Powell was right to warn about immigration

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Sir Gerald Howarth MP speaks during a tribute to Baroness Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons — Views: Howarth

A veteran Tory MP has risked reigniting the Trojan Horse row by claiming that Enoch Powell was right to warn about immigration.

Former Defence Minister Sir Gerald Howarth said recent revelations about the activities of Islamists in Birmingham schools vindicated Powell’s 1968 “Rivers of Blood” speech.

In a letter to a constituent, the MP said: “Clearly, the arrival of so many people of non-Christian faith has presented a challenge, as so many of us, including the late Enoch Powell, warned decades ago.

“Recent events have illustrated that some of these new arrivals have a very different ethos from traditional Christian schools. We are right to intervene."

Five Birmingham schools were placed in special measures by Ofsted earlier this year after snap inspections triggered by the Trojan Horse claims.

During a speech on immigration in 1968, Powell said: "As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see "the River Tiber foaming with much blood."

The speech was criticised as the time, and subsequently for its divisive language on race.