A melancholy, long, withdrawing roar

I should not have seen this but for Daniel Finkelstein. It appears that some bow-tied Daily Express columnist called Neil Hamilton believes - and I am as somnolent as Daniel at the news - that "Enoch was right". Here, if you must, is Hamilton's conclusion:

On current trends, ethnic Britons will cease to be the majority group in Britain sometime in the next century.

Would you vote for that? Don’t worry, the politicians won’t ask you to.

It takes either impertinence or gall to praise Enoch Powell's supposed plain speaking and then use a euphemism such as "ethnic Britons". It is perfectly obvious what Mr Hamilton means by this, and we may be thankful that his "political career" (a term he used to bandy around a lot, evidently unfamiliar with the concept of parliamentary office as a public service rather than a lifestyle choice) was brought to a merciful end some years ago. I have a vague recollection that in the last election campaign he ever fought his unsuccessful slogan was "Martin Who?" - which provoked an unkind response of "Neil How Much?", though I'm sure this never appeared in any campaign literature. When I saw Daniel's reference to Mr Hamilton, I swear I had to think for a moment before I was able to place the name.