Trading on the legacy of Powell

WE have been here before. Even in modern times, there's a long history of right-wing politicians playing the migrant card.

- PAUL ROUTLEDGE

And now we're seeing it again, with Nigel Farage riding to popularity on the back of widespread - but understandable - concern cover boat people.

In my lifetime, public feeling has ebbed and flowed over this issue. In the postwar period, migration wasn't a big deal. People from Commonwealth countries such as India and the Caribbean had fought alongside our boys in the Second World War.

The Windrush Generation was welcomed to fill gaps in the UK labour market. But as numbers grew, so did resentment, resulting in racial violence in Notting Hill, the West Midlands, Nottingham and Middlesbrough.