Five decades after Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech which saw him ousted from the UK Cabinet for voicing the anti-black concerns of his constituents, the issue of large scale immigration leading to violence is back top of the agenda. UK PM Rishi Sunak talks of the streets being “hijacked” by small groups who were “hostile to our values”. He said Islamist extremists and the far-right, both seek to “weaponise the evils of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred for their own ends”.
Immigrant problems and violence have flared recently in Germany, in Sweden, in France, in Ireland – not all Muslim but from backgrounds which are starkly at variance to the country of their choice. The Netherlands is in the grip of a major organised drug trial with some talking of it turning into a narco-state because of the grip of a Dutch-Moroccan gang.
Powell’s words on 20 April 1968 seem eerily prescient, if wincingly racist. “As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Roman, I seem to see “the River Tiber foaming with much blood”. He thought the majority of immigrants did not want to integrate, and that some had vested interests in fostering racial and religious differences “with a view to the exercise of actual domination, first over fellow-immigrants and then over the rest of the population.”
Matthew Syed, of The Times, with a Pakistani immigrant father and a Welsh mother, thinks one reason why certain immigrant communities don’t integrate is because of intermarriage within their group. It is reckoned that between 38/59 per cent of British Pakistanis marry first cousins, which is a worry because of birth defects. But it is also a fundamental instrument of cultural isolation. It “may benefit the patriarchs who dominate these groups but it impoverishes their communities…. who languish in poverty, cut off from society, their votes collated into blocks controlled by clan leaders and where Islamism and antisemitism fester.” Banning cousin marriage has been shown to increase integration and economic growth.
Statistics for UK (as ever to be treated cautiously):
The 2021 census, 7.4 per cent of the population of England arrived in the previous decade; 16.6% in London. Only 4.9% more secondary schools and 4% more GP premises. Immigration does not generate the tax receipts needed for migrants to ‘pay their way’ let alone to finance the new infrastructure required. UK stats are patchy but in 2019 white people were large net taxpayers. Ethnic minorities were net recipients, but there was significant variation: Asian households were close to balance or small net taxpayers; black households were substantial net recipients. People from western Europe and anglosphere countries are high earners. Citizens of poorer countries, such as Pakistan, Turkey and Bangladesh, generally earn less. Though Indian citizens earn much more than people from neighbouring countries. In employment there is huge variation between different groups of migrants. For those born in Bangladesh and Somalia, the rate of employment is low and the rate of full-time employment is very low: almost a third of the rate for those from Poland and New Zealand.
Whether much is to be gained by looking at Powell’s chart, or Michael Houellebecq whose 2015 novel Submission about Islam taking over France caused a furore, or Douglas Murray, UK the political commentator well known as a critic of immigration and Islam, I’m not sure but it does provide a backdrop.
Enoch Powell, 16 June 1912 9.50pm Birmingham, England, had a stellium of planets in Gemini with Sun, Pluto, Mercury, Venus conjunct – so he would have all of Gemini’s communicative powers with Pluto stirring up a ferment of theories. His Pluto would give him a fear of being taken over and trapped. While his Moon Neptune in Cancer falling in the UK’s 10th house conjunct the UK Moon would make him idealistic and patriotic. His Mars opposition Uranus would be uncompromising and his Mercury Pluto would give him a sharp mind though also a tendency to overdo the force of his opinions. His Aries North Node fell close to the UK’s NN reinforcing his need for independence and freedom from being dominated.
Michel Houellebecq, 26 February 1958 1pm St Pierre, Reunion, whose novel Submission imagines a Muslim party upholding Islamist and patriarchal values who wins the presidential election in France with the support of the Socialist Party attracted criticism and support. It was released on the day of the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
He has a 9th house communicative Sun Pisces opposition Pluto with a Fixed T square of an 8th house Venus opposition Uranus square Jupiter, North Node and Neptune in Scorpio. He also has an unaspected 8th house Mars in conservative Capricorn which will act like a loose cannon.
Douglas Murray, 16 July 1979 London, is a far-right journalist, author and activist, a supporter of conspiracy theories like Eurabia in which Arab powers set out to weaken European culture and undermine its previous alliances with the United States and Israel. He has a patriotic Sun Cancer which is in a controlling/influential square to Pluto, trine Uranus and inconjunct Neptune; with a hard-edged, resentful Mars in Gemini square Saturn North Node in Virgo.
What links them are strong Sun Pluto connections – hyper-sensitive to being manipulated or dominated and fairly controlling themselves. But what a strong Pluto does sometimes is have a penetrating insight and ideas that are before their time so arouse resistance and hostility. But are eventually proved right.
Odd other thought from Janet Daley of the Telegraph. On demonstrations she reckons they show many signs of the old Trotskyite infiltration techniques of yesteryear which take over every disaffected group. “So many of the apparently spontaneous uprisings of recent years – Black Lives Matter, Just Stop Oil, the Palestine support marches – are now being guided (and often spoken for) by the sort of experienced handlers who would once have organised the Communist takeover of trade unions.” She isn’t suggesting there is a communist input, merely the same techniques are being used by those who are nihilists, like causing disruptions and are obsessed with attacked western democracy.
Comment from Carson on previous post on US immigration:
“ We are a nation of immigrants like no other. Prior to 1965, when immigration law was vastly liberalized, almost all immigrants came from europe especially northern europe. Almost no one immigrated from Asia Africa or South America. Slavery not withstanding. There were some Asians in the post US civil war era (1865 til 1882). Since 1965 some 60 million people have legally immigrated to the USA. And they have had children since then. Millions more have come illegally primarily from Mexico and Central America. For comparison the entire UK population is about 68 million. Here in the US less than 20% of the population can trace their ancestors living here to 1865 when the US Civil War ended. NOT even to 1776 or earlier. The conservatives are uneasy about that as the newer arrivals obviously do not have that “Protestant ethic” automatically and likewise many are not Christians either. Many of the conservatives promote the US as “a Christian nation” theme which is no longer true if it ever was. At least a third of US population is Atheist Agnostic or non-Christian. Maybe even 50%. There is great unease by the traditionalist part of the US population about immigration and social change. That is reflected in Trump’s candidacy.”
It would be difficult to pinpoint any specific astrological significators for the upsurge in migration. After World War 11, the collapse of the British and French empires would be part of it when tr Pluto Saturn in Leo in 1948 was starting to crawl round the UK’s Fixed planets. The mid 1960s brought a good deal of liberalizing legislation when Uranus Pluto were in Virgo. Tony Blair added his dollop of political opportunism which did not help in the UK when Pluto was in Sagittarius.
Mass migrations of people are usually associated with triple conjunctions such as the late 1980s and mid 1850 which no doubt had an effect.
But since it seems an unstoppable force, it might be sensible to look harder at integration, breaking up ghettos and stop pussyfooting around sensibilities about religious or cultural differences. And toss multiculturalism which emphasises differences and divisions out of the window rather than focusing on cohesion in society.
Not sure this adds much illumination but will no doubt be an ongoing hot topic for some time to come.
See post 3 December 2023 – Europe embroiled in a clash of cultures.
ADD ON: Comment from Bal, 5th March 2024
“As a Gen X, 2nd gen immigrant, Punjabi, Indian, girl born and growing up in England in the 70s and 80s, I hated multi culturalism with a passion. I was desperate to integrate into the Western culture I was growing up in. I don’t just mean the fun things like pop and fashion culture, but the values, the support for women (I acknowledge its imperfections, but Western culture offered a far more empowering environment for women compared to the realities faced by Indian females during that era.), having a voice and being heard.
Multiculturalism basically told 1st gen immigrant boomers, and 2nd gen immigrants, mainly gen X – that it was fine not to integrate, difference was good.
In reality what happened: 1st gen immigrants, boomers, and much of the second generation, particularly Gen X, were encouraged to maintain their distinct cultural identities without the imperative to fully integrate. Consequently, many first-generation immigrants remained entrenched in the conservative outdated values of their Punjabi villages, failing to evolve along with the changing times. This stagnation in mindset was then passed down to their offspring. They didn’t bother to learn English, so as elderly people I see that they can’t advocate for themselves.
While there has been some progress towards integration over time, a significant portion of the Indian diaspora, spanning even to the third and fourth generations, still prioritize their Punjabi heritage over their British identity. Being British often feels like a mere formality for them, a means to acquire citizenship rather than a genuine sense of belonging.
It’s worth noting I am seeing more integration from Gen Z onwards though in the Punjabi / Indian community. For some communities within the wider South Asian community, this lack of integration has been even more marked.”
ADD ON: Allison Pearson: Interesting observation on watching George Galloway revel in his victory at the Rochdale by-election. “There were no women on the ballot paper and, as far as I could see, there were no female faces among the Muslim “brothers” at Galloway rallies. Islamic patriarchy ruled. How many of the avalanche of postal votes that secured victory for a candidate who unashamedly turned it into a Gaza election were cast by women who don’t understand English, women who do as their husbands tell them.
There were 13,460 postal votes cast in Rochdale last week – that’s 43.2 per cent of the total and more than 12,335 were received by Galloway’s far-Left, pro-Palestine Workers Party of Britain. The proportion of postal votes was up from 22.7 per cent in the 2019 general election to 43.2 per cent in the by-election. Disgracefully, the Electoral Commission has chosen not to investigate this startling increase in voters who cannot be seen or checked. That’s a can of worms the authorities clearly don’t want to open. For the same reason, Labour MPs turn a blind eye when they attend meetings of “the community” where women are either segregated or absent entirely.
Empower women to break free of patriarchal communities. There is a strikingly low employment rate among Muslim women – almost 70 per cent don’t work compared to 20 per cent among Christian women. That means no opportunity to mix with their fellow citizens, no chance to improve their language skills, no opportunity to earn money that will buy a bit of independence from those husbands who still think it is their right to dominate their wives (which suits those men just fine), no chance to feel British and pass on that settled loyalty to their offspring.
At school, there were girls — who went on “holiday” to Pakistan and were never seen again. Later, they would hear that their absent friends were married to uncles or cousins. Clever girls used to deliberately fail their exams because they knew the fate that awaited them once they completed their education.
One mother came over as a 14-year-old bride for an arranged marriage almost 60 years ago, but she barely knows 10 words to exchange with the locals. “She has no non-Pakistani friends and she has never worked. Her husband used to taunt her saying she could never run away because no one would understand what she was saying.