MiC’s Freddie Browne compares himself to racist Tory Enoch Powell in Instagram story

Made in Chelsea cast member Freddie Browne posted a comparison between himself and British Politician Enoch Powell on his Instagram story last night, saying that he was ‘honoured’ that their moustaches look similar.

Enoch Powell is a notorious racist and most memorably opposed the race relations act and despised the prospect of mass immigration.

Freddie Browne’s story was documenting other stars with moustaches and comparing them with his own. A friend commented that he looked like British Politician Enoch Powell and in response, Browne said ‘I am honoured’ whilst sharing a photo of Enoch Powell with a moustache.

Powell rose to infamy because of his Rivers of Blood speech (1968) where he critiqued mass immigration in an overtly racist manner. He concluded by stating “In this country in 15 or 20 years’ time the black man will have the whip hand over the white man”.

Powell’s racist views have been well documented and led to him becoming an incredibly divisive political figure within the Conservative party and British politics. In 1968 in a further speech after Rivers of Blood, he said: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman.” Powell was interviewed on his beliefs in 1969 and said: “It depends on how you define the word “racialist”. If you mean being conscious of the differences between men and nations, and from that, races, then we are all racialist”.

Powell’s beliefs even inspired an entire movement called ‘Powellism’ which were grounded in the sovereignty of the English state, high Toryism and the opposition to mass immigration in the belief that the United Kingdom should be an Independent Union State. For many people at the time, Powellism was a mechanism to hold an act upon inherently racist views and many Black and West Indian immigrants still feel the effects of the movement today. In 2018 Vince Cable said “Until two years ago I felt positive that the legacy of Enoch Powell’s poisonous and pessimistic rhetoric had been buried. Now I am not so sure. The ‘immigration panic’ – albeit mainly directed at white east Europeans – and Brexit have now brought some dangerous xenophobia back to the surface.”.

Thus, Browne’s “honour” at looking visibly similar to Powell was concerning to many because of the racist implications. An ‘old friend’ of Freddie’s told the Tab: “I was initially shocked but ultimately unsurprised to see this on Freddie’s story. A young Enoch Powell may be less recognisable to many, but it’s a clear dog whistle and claiming he was honoured is a dead give away. It’s completely in keeping with the individual I know. This feels like a very casual attitude to racism. And as a well-educated individual, he knew who he was supposedly ‘honoured’ to resemble.”

The Tab contacted Freddie Browne for comment but he has not responded.

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