MP Ian Austin clashes with Hollywood actor over whether Enoch Powell was racist

Mr Austin, who represents Dudley North, tweeted the award-winning British actor Ian McDiarmid, after the comments came to light in an interview.

The interview came as the actor, who is best known for his roles in the Star Wars film series, is playing Powell in theatre production 'What Shadows', running in Edinburgh and London.

The play looks at Powell's famous 'Rivers of Blood' speech in 1968.

The play, which opened at the Birmingham REP last year, also features Powell's ill-fated relationship with former Express & Star editor Clem Jones set against the backdrop of the speech.

When McDiarmid was asked in The Telegraph interview by Ben Lawrence what he thought when he was initially asked to play the role, he said: “Oh God, I thought, that horrible racist.”

But when questioned if he still believed he was a racist now he replied 'I no longer think so'.

He added: "He [Powell] was certainly stirring things up in a way [with the Rivers of Blood speech], which we would now describe as incitement because of the impact of its language.

"He was surprised by that impact, but he wasn’t totally naive about it. He wanted to make his mark and knew how to speak to an England that was as divided then as it is now."

Mr Austin tweeted: "@IanMcDiarmid_ who plays Enoch Powell in What Shadows is wrong to claim he wasn't a racist. Completely wrong."

He then linked to an article he had written about Powell for The Telegraph in 2012, tweeting: "Why I think Enoch Powell was completely wrong and knew exactly what he was doing."

He highlighted the interview, where he had pointed out that Powell had not only opposed immigration but also claimed black people in the UK were mistreating white people.

In a statement today Mr Austin said: "Ian McDairmid is a brilliant actor - I went to see him play Powell in What Shadows and he was brilliant, but he is wrong to say Enoch Powell wasn’t a racist and that he didn’t know what he was doing.

"Look at what Enoch Powell actually said in that notorious speech at the Midland Hotel: he said an elderly woman in Wolverhampton was frightened to leave her house for being followed by children he called "wide-eyed piccaninnies”, a claim for which he never produced any evidence.

"He said that “in 15 or 20 years' time the black man will have the whip hand over the white man” and that the rivers will be “foaming with much blood” as a result of race wars.

"Ian McDairmid is also wrong to suggest Powell didn’t know exactly what he was doing. He boasted to the distinguished and courageous former Editor of the Express and Star, Clem Jones, that the speech would explode like a rocket.

"Powell was deliberately stirring up and exploiting racial divisions in our communities.

"Extremists try to divide us but the Black Country is a strong, united and diverse community and Powell's predictions have been proved wrong. That is why every time someone says he was right, they should be reminded of what he actually said and that he was wrong."

Birmingham-born Powell, MP for Wolverhampton South West, caused a political storm when he addressed the Birmingham hotel with the notorious speech focusing on the high levels of immigration in 1968.

He was sacked from the Conservative Shadow Cabinet after his speech.