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LONDON (Reuters) - A Conservative candidate was summoned to meet the party chairman on Sunday after saying Enoch Powell's notorious "rivers of blood" speech on immigration had been proved right.
Nigel Hastilow, due to contest a marginal West Midlands seat at the next election, will meet Caroline Spelman in London, a Conservative spokeswoman said.
Labour ministers said his comments exposed the Tory party's "racist underbelly" and called on party leader David Cameron to sack him.
Writing in a newspaper, Hastilow said Powell was right to warn that uncontrolled immigration would change Britain forever.
"He was right," he wrote in the Wolverhampton Express & Star. "It has changed dramatically."
Powell was sacked from the shadow cabinet in 1968 after saying in a speech that Britain was "mad, literally mad" to allow large-scale immigration.
Hastilow later said his views were in line with party policy and reflected the views of many people in the West Midlands.
"Uncontrolled immigration will do this country great damage," he told the Observer. "In the last 10 years we have had more or less uncontrolled immigration."
Immigration has risen to the top of the political agenda in recent months. The government came under intense pressure last week after it said it had underestimated the number of foreign nationals who have come to work in Britain.
The Conservatives say the current level of immigration is unsustainable. They want tougher controls to ease pressure on schools, housing and health services.
Cameron has, however, sought to avoid inflammatory language when discussing the issue. In a speech last week, he called for a "grown-up discussion" on immigration.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis told ITV1's "The Sunday Edition" that the comments were not representative of the party.
"He (Hastilow) has got to understand that this is an area where you have to deal with great sensitivity," he said.
Labour's Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain said Hastilow should be dropped as a Tory candidate.
"This Conservative candidate really exposes the racist underbelly of the Tory party," he told BBC News.
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Not a good day for the Tories then. The original Enoch Powell speech was before my time, but without knowing a great deal of what he said, I caused a ripple effect which is still remembered years later. Immigration has been back into the news this week, so these comments have probably come at a bad time for David Cameron.
Also just heard on 5Live that the candidate involved isn't now going to stand in light of what happened.
I'll have a look on Wiki to get some more info on Enoch Powell.
How so? The candidate has resigned, it's a pretty clear message that the Conservative Party will deal with the issue of immigration in a temperate way, not through rabble rousing.
Originally posted by allstargyp:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Writing in a newspaper, Hastilow said Powell was right to warn that uncontrolled immigration would change Britain forever.
"He was right," he wrote in the Wolverhampton Express & Star. "It has changed dramatically."
he has a point, it has changed dramatically. </BLOCKQUOTE>
Enoch Powell's point was that it would be a very bad thing. Therefore, to try and say Enoch Powell was right is to criticise that of how Britain is today by blaming it on the ethnic minorities.
Originally posted by allstargyp:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Writing in a newspaper, Hastilow said Powell was right to warn that uncontrolled immigration would change Britain forever.
"He was right," he wrote in the Wolverhampton Express & Star. "It has changed dramatically."
he has a point, it has changed dramatically. </BLOCKQUOTE>
The ghost of Enoch Powell lives on ? 
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