and 50 years on, the bbc plans to broadcast enoch powell's rivers of blood speech. good evening.t adjust your sets. the chemical attack on innocent civilians in syria, was — russian officials told us today — staged by the british. the statement would be laughable were it not a stark reminder that — with or without air attacks — the war is already being fought. russia has blocked the un from investigating the use of chemical weapons in the country further. a choice made, we must presume, to prevent other nations taking further action against bashar al—assad. tonight, the un secretary general, antonio guterres, said the cold war was back with a vengeance. so how should all of this affect what britain's government does next? and where does it leave the opposition? here's david grossman. it's a week now since the headlines started pointing towards more western military involvement in the syrian conflict, a week since the alleged chemical weapons attack on the syrian town of douma. during that time, the diplomatic temperature has ranged from freezing hostility to fiery barbs, not leas

and newsnight, is it worse to remember a speech like enoch powell's rivers of blood, or worse to forget? debate. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the white house has ratcheted up the tension with syria and russia still further, claiming tonight it has proof the suspected chemical attack on saturday in which dozens are believed to have died was carried out by the syrian government. all eyes are on the white house tonight, waiting to see if donald trump will follow through on his threat to launch missiles on syria with military support from the uk and france. the secretary—general of the united nations has warned of the danger of military escalation in syria and says the cold war is back with a vengeance. russia, syria's closest ally, and with troops on the ground there, has warned any attack will be met with retaliation. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins has the latest. douma is firmly back under syrian government control. this is the ruined town where it is alleged president assad's forces used chemical weapons a week ago. rebel forces have now fled or been killed. these a

. —— enoch powell. good evening and welcome to bbc news.rime minister says she is prepared to offer compensation to windrush migrants following the government's treatment of them. she told commonwealth leaders at the closing of their summit in london that the government will do "whatever it takes, including, where appropriate, payment of compensation to resolve the anxieties and problems that some have suffered". 286 people have now contacted the government helpline — so far eight cases have been resolved. adina campbell has been speaking to some of those affected. injamaica, they couldn't find work, discouraged but full of hope, they sailed for britain. they were invited over to help rebuild britain after the war. their right to remain was supposed to be legally guaranteed. why have you come to england? to seek a job. how many have been detained as prisoners in their own country? can she tell the house... problems with paperwork have dominated politics all week. this is a day of national shame! theresa may has now confirmed that the govern

cheering and applause next week marks the 50th anniversary of enoch powell's notorious "rivers of bloodspeech, in which he used the most inflammatory language to argue against immigration. radio four has a special programme tomorrow, pulling the speech apart line by line, which is itself causing controversy in some quarters. anita's analysis starts much closer to home. it was 50 years ago that enoch powell delivered one of the most controversial speeches in british history, and those words still resonate today. in 15 or 20 years' time, the black man will have the whip hand over the white man. delivered to a meeting on april 20, 1968, the wolverhampton mp criticised government immigration policy, claiming that britain was mad to allow into this country 50,000 dependents of immigrants each year. it's like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its good evening and welcome to bbc news. sir cliff richard has told a high courtjudge he felt ‘forever tainted,‘ by the bbc‘s coverage of a police raid on his home in berkshire, following a sex assault allegation. the 77—year—old singer is

and newsnight, is it worse to remember a speech like enoch powell's rivers of blood, or worse to forget

all of this happening 50 years to the week after enoch powell's famous rivers of blood speech and 25he death of stephen lawrence. but eyes are turning to the future too. very quickly the windrush row prompted questions about the position of eu nationals seeking to remain after brexit — and we're months away from a new immigration bill. tonight we discuss the ramifications of the windrush scandal but first a reminder of how the week unfolded. the stories of this week have put a very human face on the immigration system. the home secretary needs to get on with it. because there's too many people out there who are just waiting for a knock on the door. people who have lived in the uk for half a century have found they are no longer welcome in the country they call home. what would you say now to the prime minister, theresa may? what would be your message to her? why can't i come back here? the reason why i can't come back. many believe the scandal is a wake—up call for a government that has spent too much focus on being hostile to migrants. well, theresa may has got an unfortunate habit

i put on social media a leading article written by my father in 1968, when enoch powell spoke, whichly criticised at the time. you think it is a service even though many people were saying before it was broadcast to get that it was going to be deeply offensive.” think that is the point. lots of people don‘t actually know what enoch powell said and talk about the speech without having heard or read it and speech without having heard or read itandi speech without having heard or read it and i think that people should know what he said and therefore be ina know what he said and therefore be in a better position to criticise it. the bbc has done a public service as a public service broadcasting. the speech made talking sensibly about immigration considerably harder because of the stories that he told, the anecdotal evidence that he used and the terminology that he employed, which was racist. thank you. the headlines on bbc newsroom live... mps will today question theresa may over the uk‘s involvement in air strikes in syria. russia‘s foreign minister tells the bbc there is no proof of ch