(Posted: 9-6-08, pics courtesy of John West)
Sovereignty does not support any particular political party and we have readers who are members of all parties and none. However, we are always interested to report on public activism on issues which concern our readers.

Below, we reprint the speech by Conference Organiser John West pictured, right.

Forty years ago a conservative MP made a speech about immigration. In that speech he predicted that uncontrolled immigration would change this island beyond recognition. He warned that our country faced fragmentation and civil unrest due to mass immigration. He said and I quote "It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre". "As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Roman, I seem to see the river Tiber foaming with much blood". He ended his speech with these words "All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be a great betrayal".

Ladies and Gentleman, the MP in question was Enoch Powell. His speech sent shockwaves across the nation. Forty years on it still does because many would say his predictions have been proved largely correct. However, in 1968 Enoch Powell spoke of 50,000 immigrants moving to Britain every year. Today that figure is over 200,000 every year. Every three minutes a British passport is issued to an immigrant. Over one and a half million immigrants have been made British citizens since Labour came to power. One such person was Muktar Ibrahim. He was approved despite convictions for robbery and indecent assault. He showed his thanks to Britain by trying to carry out a terrorist attack in London.

On the other hand Gurkhas who left the British army before 1997 have been refused permission to work, use the NHS or claim benefits while they battle for the right to become British citizens. It appears that Labour thinks more of foreign criminals than brave soldiers who fought for this country.

For decades multiculturalism was promoted as a virtue. Slogans such as 'Together in diversity' were used. Immigrants were told not to integrate. Instead, they were encouraged to establish communities within communities across Britain. We were told to celebrate multiculturalism and if you questioned the wisdom of this you were shouted down as a racist. The abject failure of multiculturalism became apparent when 52 people were murdered in London by Islamic fanatics born in Britain.

Even those who used to promote multiculturalism now admit that they were wrong. In April, Trevor Philips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, warned of rising tension and said that Britain was locked in a "cold war" between different communities.

This neatly brings me to the subject of my speech. The clear link between immigration and the rise in crime. Fifty years ago Britain was renowned for our low crime rate. Today Britain is one of the most violent places in the western world. We cannot ignore the fact that Britain has seen a massive influx of foreign criminals. Even, the Head of Interpol, has warned that we are being put in serious danger because the government is failing to carry out security checks on those coming here.

Here are some interesting facts:

A recent Yougov poll revealed that 60% of British people feel that immigration is making Britain a more dangerous place to live. No wonder that since 1997 over two million Britons have left Britain for good.

Last year a report from the Audit Commission admitted that immigration from Eastern Europe had brought social disorder and crime. It warned of increased racial tension between immigrants and locals. Potential flashpoints included overcrowding, street drinking, poor driving standards, hostility towards the police and begging. Locals had witnessed the total transformation of their communities and needless to say many were not happy.

Let me give one such example. In the early 1990s I visited Boston in Lincolnshire. It was just another sleepy English town unchanged for decades. Some twenty years later I would not recognise it. The town has seen a massive influx of Eastern Europeans. One in four of the town's population is now from Eastern Europe. Sixty five different languages are spoken in the town. Official government figures show that only 38% of residents believe that immigrants and the locals get on.

Ladies and Gentlemen, police forces across the land have also expressed concerns about uncontrolled immigration. Mike Fuller, Chief Constable for Kent, has said that migration has contributed to an increase in violent crime in that county. Indeed, violent crime is up by 35% and this is largely due to immigration. He went on to say that immigration is responsible for a 78% population increase in Kent. He warned that he needed more funding and above all more officers in order to cope. And by the way they can't accuse him of racism because he is black.

Other chief constables, have also raised similar concerns. Julie Spence of Cambridgeshire police complained that her force was struggling to cope with the huge influx of migrants from Eastern Europe. Drink driving, knife crime, prostitution and a £1 million bill for translators had stretched her officers to the limit. Foreign nationals are to found in her cells every day. She has warned that drug dealers from Vietnam are gaining EU passports in order to get into the UK. Russians are also coming here posing as Poles.

The situation has got so bad that she has been forced to issue guidelines telling immigrants how to behave. It warned newcomers not to fondle people without permission, not to urinate or spit in public, not to carry weapons, not to cycle on motorways and not to drive under the influence of drink or drugs. She has also warned that the credit crunch could lead to tension as locals are beginning to complain that immigrants are taking all the jobs.

In Gloucestershire, Chief Constable, Tim Brain, warned that police staffing levels may have to be cut to cope with the cost of translators in his area. Another, Terry Grange, a Chief Constable in Wales said that women were being put at risk by foreign sex offenders.

Only a couple of weeks ago Chris Fox, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said that mass migration had brought with it a whole new range and a whole type of crime from the Nigerian fraudster to the Eastern European who deals in drugs and prostitution to the Jamaican concentration on drug dealing. He also said that

"Every time you get a new group you get more tension". "It doesn't take much to disturb the balance, and I think we've got to be very careful to make sure we're not overwhelming our current infrastructure".

In April a leaked police report to the Home Secretary revealed that immigration has had a "significant impact" on communities. The Home Secretary was also told that there had been a "huge surge" in organised crime. Matters had been made worse because counties such as Poland had refused to share their criminal records with the UK. In other words we don't know who we are letting in.

Across Britain uncontrolled immigration has resulted in an increase in driving offences. Last year a police stop and check in Lincolnshire found 50% of all drivers were committing an offence. 97% of those were migrants. In Dorset, Chief Inspector Rick Dowell, head of the county's traffic police has said "We are seeing an increase in the number of foreign nationals being arrested for drink-driving and speeding. The number of fatal or serious injury collisions involving foreign nationals is also increasing".

In 2007 over 20% of crime in London was committed by migrants. Violence accounted for more than a quarter. Drugs were involved in some 6000 cases. There were over a 1000 burglaries, 500 robberies and 400 sex crimes.

Nationwide Romanian gangs accounted for 85% of cash point fraud. Cash point crime costs us £60 million a year. Overall, Romanians were responsible for more than a thousand crimes in the first half of last year. At the same time crime in Romania dropped.

One in seven prison inmates is foreign. The cost is £38,000 per annum for every inmate.

A foreign national is arrested for a crime every four minutes. In 2007 migrants were to blame for one in five murders. The average cost for a murder investigation is £1.5 million.

In 2006 a report by Westminster City Council warned that anti-social behaviour and crime had increased in that area. Eastern Europeans were 'over-represented' in arrests for shoplifting, drunkenness, prostitution and burglary. The report also said that the figures could be far higher as many shops no longer called the police but preferred to use their own security guards.

The vast majority of Eastern European convicts released from prison cannot be deported under EU law. They have the right to stay as EU citizens. Migrants from outside the EU cannot be deported if they have been issued a passport by another EU country. The Human Rights Act also prevents foreign criminals from being deported. Do you remember those Afghans who hijacked a plane to England and threatened to kill all those on board? They were they allowed to remain here and claim benefits. They could not be deported because according to the Human Rights Act they could have faced persecution in their native land.

Scotland Yard has said that over half the crime gangs in London are foreign. Nationwide we have gangs from Russia, Somalia, Jamaica, Romania, Algeria, Turkey, China, Vietnam, Pakistan, Lithuania, Latvia, Albania and Poland. They are involved in drugs, prostitution, fraud, people trafficking and theft.

Bill Hughes, Director General of the Serious Organised Crime Agency has said that drugs, guns and people smuggling were mainly linked to gangs from overseas. He told the Commons Home Affairs Committee, "The source of the trouble starts elsewhere".

In 2006, 79,308 foreign nationals were arrested in the UK. Poles accounted for the majority. A Polish police spokesman has admitted that "Britain is very attractive for criminals from Poland."

Ladies and Gentlemen, this madness must stop. We cannot continue to put our people at risk from foreign criminals.

At the start of this speech I quoted Enoch Powell. Many would say that he was a prophet because so many of his predictions have come to pass. He warned us in the 1970s that joining the Common Market would result in a loss of sovereignty. He warned us that devolution would lead to the break up of the United Kingdom. He warned us that uncontrolled immigration would lead to civil unrest and the destruction of our national identity. All those warnings went unheeded by the establishment. But who was proved right? Enoch Powell.

So what can you and I do? We must vote for a party that stand up for Britain. We can't trust the old parties. They have betrayed this country for decades. The Tories, Labour and Lib Dems are all committed to EU membership and therefore uncontrolled immigration from Eastern Europe. We need a new party dedicated to putting the interests of the British people first. We need a party that will put the Great back into Great Britain.

Ladies and Gentlemen, UKIP is that party. We will free Britain from the EU. We will take back control of our borders and end the madness of multiculturalism. We will deport foreign criminals and tear up the Human Rights Act. Finally, we will freeze all immigration for at least five years.

Remember this:

If you are concerned about immigration it does not make you a racist.

If you hate the EU it does not make you anti-European.

If you love your country and want to protect your culture, heritage and national identity it does not make you a 'Little Englander'.

And if you want to see foreign criminals removed from our shores it does not make you a fascist.

When those you elected betray you, throw them out. You must follow in the footsteps of those great men and women of British history who said "No I will not bow down to tyranny and injustice. I will fight for what I believe in".

Remember this, we are the revolutionaries now. We must follow in the footsteps of Alfred the Great, Oliver Cromwell, Nelson and Churchill who were prepared to fight for what they believed in. If we fail to follow their example our heritage, culture and national identity will disappear forever. I know that you will not allow that to happen.

It is not enough to say I believe in what you are saying. You must be prepared to fight for what you believe in. Ladies and Gentlemen, you have nothing to lose but your country.

John West also organised UKIP's first ever "Immigration Conference" in 2007, and his speech can be found here.