Powell, E ‧ noch /ˈiːnɒk $ -nɑːk/ BrE AmE
(1912–98) a British politician in the ↑ Conservative Party , who was a government minister in the early 1960s, and later left the Conservative Party and became an MP in Northern Ireland. He is remembered especially for a speech he made in 1968 in which he said that if the UK allowed too many black people to come and live there, there would be fighting and ‘rivers of blood’ in the streets. Although some people admired him for his intelligence, his ↑ patriotism , and his opposition to the EU (European Union), he was greatly criticized for this speech, because people believed that it encouraged ↑ racist attitudes.