Hannan finds praise for Enoch Powell

David Cameron came under pressure to discipline the Tory MEP Dan Hannan after he praised Enoch Powell and named him as one of his biggest political influences.

Mr Hannan's remarks follow the controversy over his description of the National Health Service as a "60-year mistake" in an interview on American television two weeks ago.

Asked to list his political influences in a separate interview with Reason TV, a libertarian internet channel, Mr Hannan said: "In a British context Enoch Powell, he was... somebody who understood the importance of national democracy, who understood why you needed to live in an independent country and what that meant, as well as being a free-marketeer and a small government Conservative."

Although Mr Hannan did not endorse Mr Powell's hardline stance on immigration, his praise for him puts him at odds with Mr Cameron's attempts to distance his party from such views. Mr Powell was sacked from the Shadow Cabinet in 1968 after predicting that immigration to Britain would create "rivers of blood".

Mr Cameron said last year that Mr Powell's speech made it "much more difficult" to have a sensible debate about immigration. He ordered Nigel Hastilow, A Tory parliamentary candidate for Halesowen and Rowley Regis, to retract a statement that Mr Powell was right on immigration. Mr Hastilow resigned instead.

Last night Labour challenged Mr Cameron to take similar action over Mr Hannan. Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, who attacked the Tory MEP over his NHS remarks, said: "Yet again, we are seeing the two faces of the Conservative Party. The one they want to present to the public and the one which attacks the NHS and praises Enoch Powell."

Tory sources told the Press Association that Mr Hannan would not be disciplined, describing him as "pro-immigration". Party officials believe his comments are of a different order to those of Mr Hastilow, who praised Mr Powell's line on immigration, while Mr Hannan was referring to his general approach to politics.

Mr Cameron has distanced himself from Mr Hannan's comments on health, dismissing them as "eccentric" and insisting that it is he, not the outspoken MEP, who decides the party's NHS policy.