Powellism
Encyclopedia
Powellism is the name given to the political views of Conservative
and Ulster Unionist
politician Enoch Powell
, which derive from his High Tory and libertarian
outlook.
, coined by The Economist
on 17 July 1965. However the day before Iain Macleod
had reviewed a book of Powell's speeches entitled A Nation Not Afraid in The Spectator
in which he mentioned the word:
The word was originally used to describe Powell's views on economics, and Powell offered his own definition: "[Powellism is] an almost unlimited faith in the ability of the people to get what they want through peace, capital, profit and a competitive market".
to be the expression of the British nation and his opposition to British membership of the European Economic Community stemmed from his belief that it would abolish the sovereignty
of the British state and nation.
His views on Britain's relations with the rest of the world derived ultimately from the belief in the independent nation-state. The United Nations
, to Powell, was an "absurdity and a monstrosity" by its very nature because it sought to preserve the international status quo without the use of force but that the "rise and growth and disappearance of nations is mediated by force...Without war the sovereign nation is not conceivable". In this he was, in international relations
terminology, a 'realist'. War to Powell was the ultimate sacrifice a man could make for his nation and he once said he wished he had been killed in battle during World War II
.
He further believed that "parliamentary democracy disintegrates when the national homogeneity of the electorate is broken down by a large and sharp alteration in the composition of the population". To prevent "civil war" Powell advocated a system of voluntary repatriation for immigrants and their descendants, and in February 1967 he wrote:
Speaking in March 1971 Powell claimed that "for the past eighteen months a part of the United Kingdom has been under attack from an external enemy assisted by detachments operating inside...when one part of a nation is under attack, the whole is under attack". He claimed that the vocabulary used in the Ulster context concealed the truth of the situation: "vocabulary is one of the principal weapons in the enemy's armoury". A person who perpetrated acts of violence, Powell asserted, was not an "extremist" but a criminal, and if their motives are "detaching part of the territory of the United Kingdom and attaching it to a foreign country" they become an "enemy under arms". Powell distinguished between those who commit crimes because they believe, "however mistaken", that they are thereby helping to safeguard their country's integrity and their right to live under the Crown, and those who commit crimes "with the intention of destroying that integrity and rendering impossible that allegiance": the two were described as "extremist" but Powell believed that "the former breaches the peace; the latter is executing an act of war". Powell also disagreed with the notion that the British Army were "glorified policeman" solely designed to keep order between two warring sides. Powell instead argued that the British Army were in Northern Ireland "because an avowed enemy is using force of arms to break down lawful authority...and thereby seize control. The army cannot be 'impartial' towards an enemy".
Powell advocated that Northern Ireland should be politically integrated with the rest of the United Kingdom, treated no differently from its other constituent parts. He believed that successive British governments, under American pressure, were determined one way or another to get Northern Ireland into an all-Ireland state.
Powell outlined his opposition when the House of Commons debated the European Communities Act 1972
:
This issue which ultimately caused Powell to leave the Conservative party and the issue which Powell placed above all others in importance, the EEC, Powell believed that it eroded national sovereignty in an unprecedented way not known since the English Reformation
. This was because EEC law had primacy over law made in the United Kingdom Parliament, which Powell considered the true representation of the British nation with the monarch
as its head.
to Scotland
and Wales
due to his British nationalism and because he believed devolution to be incompatible with the unitary
nature of the British state. Powell stated that it was impossible for the same electorate to be represented in two legislative houses unless Britain became a federal
state. Powell wanted the British nation to be represented in one Parliament. If, Powell said, the Scottish and Welsh considered themselves to be separate nations from the English and Northern Irish, they should become independent sovereign states outside the United Kingdom.
because Powell believed that independent countries which were once part of the British Empire
were no longer Britain's responsibility and that no national interest compelled Britain to be a member. Powell believed patriotism
should in the post-Imperial age be derived from the patria, the nation-state, regardless of the racial composition of foreign states.
being part of the UK because it wanted a united Ireland
within NATO to help combat the Soviet Union
. Powell thought that Ulster should be integrated with the rest of the Kingdom and treated no differently from the rest of it. He also blamed the United States for the dissolution of the British Empire
and for the declining influence of the United Kingdom
in international affairs.
, not foes.
and that as these nuclear weapons were mainly American, that British security rested on "the American alliance and American armament". Powell believed that even if Russia had wanted to, they would not have dared to invade Western Europe "for one simple overwhelming reason: it would have meant a war they couldn't expect to win" against the United States. Powell asserted that the nuclear deterrent was "a pretend deterrent". Powell argued that the existence of separate nuclear weapons for France and Britain demonstrated that they believed that the United States would not risk a nuclear war over Western Europe, and that therefore they were "victims to their own reasoning" as neither France nor Britain would themselves use nuclear weapons in the event of an invasion because the consequences of nuclear war would be too horrific. Powell also disagreed with the notion that nuclear weapons protected Britain from blackmail since Britain would have to choose between "unlimited devastation" from nuclear weapons or surrender.
but defended the Welfare state
.
put forth by Labour. It is worth noting that the majority of Powell's Old Right and far-right supporters strongly reject his social views, whilst neophytes tend not to be as oppositional. As with his economical viewpoints, Powell was anti-interventionist, although it would be more accurate to regard him as an anti-paternalist than an anti-traditionalist. Powell supported the maintenance of Monarchy
, established religion and hereditary peer
s in governance. He voted to decriminalise homosexuality and did not regard "it as a proper area for the criminal law to operate".
His views on forms of punishment, judiciary and educational, were not those of most contemporary or even present day Conservatives. He described the death penalty as "utterly repugnant" and voted consistently against corporal punishment in schools.
On 11 April, 1973, he wrote in The Daily Telegraph:
Differences from Thatcherism
The former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher
, based many of her defining policies along the lines of Enoch Powell's rhetoric. There are not a great many differences; although Margaret Thatcher did make attempts to curtail immigration, it was not to the extent that Powell had proposed in 1968. Thatcher also intended to greatly reduce the power of the welfare state and national assistance, which Powell had not been so enthusiastic about.
The most notable schism between Powell and Thatcher lies not in economic or social decisions, but in foreign affairs. Enoch Powell's sentiment on Britain as part of the wider world would be more in line with Salisbury's
"Splendid Isolationism
" than Thatcher's advocacy of the Special Relationship. Powell was a well-travelled man who spoke a dozen languages, but his foreign policy ideas could be described as xenophobic by some. He had no more like of America than he did of Europe.
Enoch Powell distanced himself philosophically from Margaret Thatcher; notably when it was remarked to him that she was a convert to Powellism, Powell replied:
"A pity she never understood it!"
Divergence from libertarianism
Ralph Harris
of the Institute of Economic Affairs
wrote to Powell claiming that his views on immigration were antagonistic to the rest of his generally libertarian views, a notion with which Powell disagreed.
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and Ulster Unionist
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
politician Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
, which derive from his High Tory and libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
outlook.
Overview
The word "Powellism" was, according to the Oxford English DictionaryOxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
, coined by The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
on 17 July 1965. However the day before Iain Macleod
Iain Macleod
Iain Norman Macleod was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.-Early life:...
had reviewed a book of Powell's speeches entitled A Nation Not Afraid in The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
in which he mentioned the word:
Enoch Powell has the finest mind in the House of Commons. The best trained and the most exciting. There is an attitude of mind which can be called "Powellism" and it is excellent that now we have the evidence collected in a book.
The word was originally used to describe Powell's views on economics, and Powell offered his own definition: "[Powellism is] an almost unlimited faith in the ability of the people to get what they want through peace, capital, profit and a competitive market".
Nationalism
Powell was a romantic British nationalist and viewed the nation state as "the ultimate political reality. There is no political reality beyond it". He believed the British ParliamentParliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
to be the expression of the British nation and his opposition to British membership of the European Economic Community stemmed from his belief that it would abolish the sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
of the British state and nation.
His views on Britain's relations with the rest of the world derived ultimately from the belief in the independent nation-state. The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, to Powell, was an "absurdity and a monstrosity" by its very nature because it sought to preserve the international status quo without the use of force but that the "rise and growth and disappearance of nations is mediated by force...Without war the sovereign nation is not conceivable". In this he was, in international relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
terminology, a 'realist'. War to Powell was the ultimate sacrifice a man could make for his nation and he once said he wished he had been killed in battle during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Immigration
Powell's opposition to mass immigration derived from his nationalist outlook. Powell claimed that the children of Commonwealth immigrants to Britain did "not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact he is a West Indian or an Asian still...he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another". Powell claimed that Commonwealth immigration to Britain post-1945 was "in point of numbers out of all comparison greater than anything these islands have ever experienced before in a thousand years of history". Powell asserted that as this immigration was concentrated in urban areas, the result would be violence: "I do not believe it is in human nature that a country...should passively watch the transformation of whole areas which lie at the heart of it into alien territory". Powell claimed his warnings were political:It is the belief that self-identification of each part with the whole is the one essential pre-condition of being a parliamentary nation, and that the massive shift in the composition of the population of the inner metropolis and of major towns and cities of England will produce, not fortuitously or avoidably, but by the sheer inevitabilities of human nature in society, ever increasing and more dangerous alienation.
He further believed that "parliamentary democracy disintegrates when the national homogeneity of the electorate is broken down by a large and sharp alteration in the composition of the population". To prevent "civil war" Powell advocated a system of voluntary repatriation for immigrants and their descendants, and in February 1967 he wrote:
The best I can dare hope for is that by the end of the century we shall not be left with a growing and more menacing phenomenon but with fixed and almost traditional 'foreign' areas in certain towns and cities which will remain as the lasting monument of a moment of national aberration.
Northern Ireland
For Powell, as Roy Lewis has stated, the situation in Northern Ireland "went down to the roots of his position on nationhood, on British national identity, on the uniqueness of parliamentary government". Powell believed that the unionist majority in Northern Ireland were "part of the nation which inhabits the rest of the United Kingdom" and therefore Northern Ireland should remain in the United Kingdom.Speaking in March 1971 Powell claimed that "for the past eighteen months a part of the United Kingdom has been under attack from an external enemy assisted by detachments operating inside...when one part of a nation is under attack, the whole is under attack". He claimed that the vocabulary used in the Ulster context concealed the truth of the situation: "vocabulary is one of the principal weapons in the enemy's armoury". A person who perpetrated acts of violence, Powell asserted, was not an "extremist" but a criminal, and if their motives are "detaching part of the territory of the United Kingdom and attaching it to a foreign country" they become an "enemy under arms". Powell distinguished between those who commit crimes because they believe, "however mistaken", that they are thereby helping to safeguard their country's integrity and their right to live under the Crown, and those who commit crimes "with the intention of destroying that integrity and rendering impossible that allegiance": the two were described as "extremist" but Powell believed that "the former breaches the peace; the latter is executing an act of war". Powell also disagreed with the notion that the British Army were "glorified policeman" solely designed to keep order between two warring sides. Powell instead argued that the British Army were in Northern Ireland "because an avowed enemy is using force of arms to break down lawful authority...and thereby seize control. The army cannot be 'impartial' towards an enemy".
Powell advocated that Northern Ireland should be politically integrated with the rest of the United Kingdom, treated no differently from its other constituent parts. He believed that successive British governments, under American pressure, were determined one way or another to get Northern Ireland into an all-Ireland state.
European Economic Community
Powell opposed British membership of the EEC because he believed it to have extinguished British independence. He claimed that British membership "must be the question which subtends all others...for – in peace as in war, it is the great, the ultimate, question for any nation". "Independence, the freedom of a self-governing nation", Powell argued, "is in my estimation the highest political good, for which any disadvantage, if need be, and any sacrifice, are a cheap price".Powell outlined his opposition when the House of Commons debated the European Communities Act 1972
European Communities Act 1972 (UK)
The European Communities Act 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom providing for the incorporation of European Community law into the domestic law of the United Kingdom. It is not to be confused with the Irish law of the same name, Act No...
:
It shows first that it is an inherent consequence of accession to the Treaty of RomeTreaty of RomeThe Treaty of Rome, officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, was an international agreement that led to the founding of the European Economic Community on 1 January 1958. It was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany...
that this House and Parliament will lose their legislative supremacy. It will no longer be true that law in this country is made only by or with the authority of Parliament...The second consequence...is that this House loses its exclusive control – upon which its power and authority has been built over the centuries – over taxation and expenditure. In future, if we become part of the Community, moneys received in taxation from the citizens of this country will be spent otherwise than upon a vote of this House and without the opportunity...to debate grievance and to call for an account of the way in which those moneys are to be spent. For the first time for centuries it will be true to say that the people of this country are not taxed only upon the authority of the House of Commons. The third consequence...is that the judicial independence of this country has to be given up. In future, if we join the Community, the citizens of this country will not only be subject to laws made elsewhere but the applicability of those laws to them will be adjudicated upon elsewhere; and the law made elsewhere and the adjudication elsewhere will override the law which is made here and the decisions of the courts of this realm.
This issue which ultimately caused Powell to leave the Conservative party and the issue which Powell placed above all others in importance, the EEC, Powell believed that it eroded national sovereignty in an unprecedented way not known since the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
. This was because EEC law had primacy over law made in the United Kingdom Parliament, which Powell considered the true representation of the British nation with the monarch
British monarchy
The monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
as its head.
Devolution
Powell opposed devolutionDevolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
due to his British nationalism and because he believed devolution to be incompatible with the unitary
Unitary state
A unitary state is a state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions exercise only powers that their central government chooses to delegate...
nature of the British state. Powell stated that it was impossible for the same electorate to be represented in two legislative houses unless Britain became a federal
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
state. Powell wanted the British nation to be represented in one Parliament. If, Powell said, the Scottish and Welsh considered themselves to be separate nations from the English and Northern Irish, they should become independent sovereign states outside the United Kingdom.
British Empire and Commonwealth
Powell was also against the Commonwealth of NationsCommonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
because Powell believed that independent countries which were once part of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
were no longer Britain's responsibility and that no national interest compelled Britain to be a member. Powell believed patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
should in the post-Imperial age be derived from the patria, the nation-state, regardless of the racial composition of foreign states.
United States
The United States of America, Powell thought, was Britain's enemy not its ally. Powell believed that America was against Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
being part of the UK because it wanted a united Ireland
United Ireland
A united Ireland is the term used to refer to the idea of a sovereign state which covers all of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. The island of Ireland includes the territory of two independent sovereign states: the Republic of Ireland, which covers 26 counties of the island, and the...
within NATO to help combat the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Powell thought that Ulster should be integrated with the rest of the Kingdom and treated no differently from the rest of it. He also blamed the United States for the dissolution of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and for the declining influence of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in international affairs.
Soviet Union
Moreover Powell also thought that Russia posed no threat to the UK and claimed that the UK and Russia were 'natural allies' in holding the European balance of powerBalance of power in international relations
In international relations, a balance of power exists when there is parity or stability between competing forces. The concept describes a state of affairs in the international system and explains the behavior of states in that system...
, not foes.
Unilateral nuclear disarmament
Powell rejected the view—given by successive British Governments—that nuclear weapons deterred Russia from conquering the countries of Western EuropeWestern Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
and that as these nuclear weapons were mainly American, that British security rested on "the American alliance and American armament". Powell believed that even if Russia had wanted to, they would not have dared to invade Western Europe "for one simple overwhelming reason: it would have meant a war they couldn't expect to win" against the United States. Powell asserted that the nuclear deterrent was "a pretend deterrent". Powell argued that the existence of separate nuclear weapons for France and Britain demonstrated that they believed that the United States would not risk a nuclear war over Western Europe, and that therefore they were "victims to their own reasoning" as neither France nor Britain would themselves use nuclear weapons in the event of an invasion because the consequences of nuclear war would be too horrific. Powell also disagreed with the notion that nuclear weapons protected Britain from blackmail since Britain would have to choose between "unlimited devastation" from nuclear weapons or surrender.
Economic views
Powell was staunchly anti-interventionist in economic and monetary affairs. He believed that business interests should be looked after by the people that best understood them—businessmen—not politicians. He was the first politician of major influence to call for de-nationalision of public services in the 1960s, and had criticised conventions on business practice organised or funded by the government. Powell was very much a monetaristMonetarism
Monetarism is a tendency in economic thought that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. It is the view within monetary economics that variation in the money supply has major influences on national output in the short run and the price level over...
but defended the Welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
.
Social views
Powell's social views differed from those of his conservative allies in that he supported no-fault divorce, relaxed abortion laws and other aspects of the permissive societyPermissive society
The permissive society is a society where social norms are becoming increasingly liberal. This usually accompanies a change in what is considered deviant. While typically preserving the rule "do not harm others", a permissive society would have few other moral codes...
put forth by Labour. It is worth noting that the majority of Powell's Old Right and far-right supporters strongly reject his social views, whilst neophytes tend not to be as oppositional. As with his economical viewpoints, Powell was anti-interventionist, although it would be more accurate to regard him as an anti-paternalist than an anti-traditionalist. Powell supported the maintenance of Monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
, established religion and hereditary peer
Hereditary peer
Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over seven hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, but since the House of Lords Act 1999 only ninety-two are permitted to do so...
s in governance. He voted to decriminalise homosexuality and did not regard "it as a proper area for the criminal law to operate".
His views on forms of punishment, judiciary and educational, were not those of most contemporary or even present day Conservatives. He described the death penalty as "utterly repugnant" and voted consistently against corporal punishment in schools.
On 11 April, 1973, he wrote in The Daily Telegraph:
I should be the last to imply that a Member of Parliament ought to subordinate his judgement of what is wise or right to even the most overwhelming majority of opinion. If he believes a thing harmful, he must not support it; if he thinks it unjust he must denounce it. In those judgements the opinion of those he represents have no claim over him. But capital punishment is not for me in that category; it is not self-evidently harmful or self-evidently unjust. I cannot therefore deny that in this context a settled and preponderant public demand ought to be taken into account or that at a certain point it would have to prevail. I do not believe that point has been reached: but it would be disingenuous for me to deny that it could exist.
Differences from ThatcherismThatcherismThatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
The former Prime Minister, Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, based many of her defining policies along the lines of Enoch Powell's rhetoric. There are not a great many differences; although Margaret Thatcher did make attempts to curtail immigration, it was not to the extent that Powell had proposed in 1968. Thatcher also intended to greatly reduce the power of the welfare state and national assistance, which Powell had not been so enthusiastic about.
The most notable schism between Powell and Thatcher lies not in economic or social decisions, but in foreign affairs. Enoch Powell's sentiment on Britain as part of the wider world would be more in line with Salisbury's
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
"Splendid Isolationism
Splendid isolation
Splendid Isolation was the foreign policy pursued by Britain during the late 19th century, under the Conservative premierships of Benjamin Disraeli and the Marquess of Salisbury. The term was actually coined by a Canadian politician to praise Britain's lack of involvement in European affairs...
" than Thatcher's advocacy of the Special Relationship. Powell was a well-travelled man who spoke a dozen languages, but his foreign policy ideas could be described as xenophobic by some. He had no more like of America than he did of Europe.
Enoch Powell distanced himself philosophically from Margaret Thatcher; notably when it was remarked to him that she was a convert to Powellism, Powell replied:
"A pity she never understood it!"
Divergence from libertarianismLibertarianismLibertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
Ralph HarrisRalph Harris, Baron Harris of High Cross
Ralph Harris, Baron Harris of High Cross was a British economist. He was head of the Institute of Economic Affairs from 1957 to 1988...
of the Institute of Economic Affairs
Institute of Economic Affairs
The Institute of Economic Affairs , founded in 1955, styles itself the UK's pre-eminent free-market think-tank. Its mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social...
wrote to Powell claiming that his views on immigration were antagonistic to the rest of his generally libertarian views, a notion with which Powell disagreed.
Books on Powellism
- Rex Collings (ed.), Reflections of a Statesman: The Writings and Speeches of Enoch Powell (London: Bellew, 1991).
- Roy LewisRoy LewisRoy Lewis was an English writer and small press printer.-Life and work:Although born in Felixstowe, Lewis was brought up in Birmingham and educated at King Edward's School. After studying at University College, Oxford, earning his BA in 1934, he went on to study at the London School of Economics...
, Enoch Powell: Principle in Politics (London: Cassell, 1979). - T. E. UtleyT. E. UtleyThomas Edwin 'Peter' Utley CBE was an English High Tory journalist.Utley, blind since his childhood, went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he achieved a double first in History. During the Second World War, he was a Times leader writer and then worked for the Observer and the Sunday Times...
, Enoch Powell: The Man and his Thinking (London: William Kimber, 1968). - John Wood (ed.), A Nation Not Afraid: The Thinking of Enoch Powell (B. T. Batsford, 1965).