The British newspaper columnist Rod Liddle, whose decades-long career was marked by repeated accusations of Islamophobia, racism and minimising paedophilia, has died aged 66 after a short illness.
While supporters hailed him as a fearless defender of free speech, British Muslims will remember him for a long record of comments widely condemned as Islamophobic, alongside repeated accusations of racism and other inflammatory remarks that followed him throughout his career.
For years, Liddle used his columns in The Sunday Times, The Sun and The Spectator to attack multiculturalism, immigration and Islam, repeatedly attracting accusations that he was helping to legitimise anti-Muslim prejudice in mainstream British media.
Among his most notorious comments came during the 2019 general election campaign, when he suggested polling day should be held on the Muslim festival of Eid because it would reduce Labour’s vote. The article provoked outrage across the political spectrum, including from then-Chancellor Sajid Javid, who described the remarks as unacceptable.
Liddle rejected the criticism, insisting the article was satirical and accusing his critics of lacking a sense of humour.
In another widely condemned column published in 2018, Liddle wrote that Islamist suicide bombers should blow themselves up in Tower Hamlets rather than “where the rest of us live.” The remarks were condemned by the east London borough’s mayor as “racist” and “poisonous.”
Throughout his newspaper career, Liddle repeatedly portrayed Britain’s Muslim population as presenting unique social and cultural problems, frequently linking Muslims, immigration, crime and extremism. Critics argued that his writing reinforced negative stereotypes about Muslims and contributed to an increasingly hostile climate towards Britain’s largest religious minority.
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Liddle consistently denied being Islamophobic. He maintained that he was criticising religious ideas, extremism and aspects of multiculturalism rather than Muslims as people, and frequently argued that his detractors deliberately misunderstood satire and irony.
Racism and paedophilia
His writing also generated repeated allegations of racism.
Over the years he wrote numerous controversial columns about Black communities, immigration and ethnic minorities, prompting anti-racism campaigners and fellow journalists to accuse him of promoting racist stereotypes.
During a 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, presenter Emily Maitlis described him as producing “consistent casual racism week after week.” Although the BBC later upheld complaints about Maitlis’s interviewing style, finding that she had not been sufficiently impartial during the interview, it made no finding on the substance of her criticism.
Liddle also became embroiled in controversy over comments relating to child sexual abuse.
One of his most criticised newspaper columns questioned whether merely viewing child pornography should remain a criminal offence, arguing that criminalising viewers did not necessarily protect children. The article provoked fierce criticism from child protection campaigners, who argued that viewing abuse images fuels demand for the exploitation of children.
In another article, Liddle suggested that public concern about paedophilia had become excessive and had made normal adult interaction with children unnecessarily difficult.
He also once wrote that one reason he could never work as a teacher was because he would find teenage girls sexually attractive, comments widely condemned as inappropriate.
Although critics have sometimes accused Liddle of defending paedophilia, he never publicly advocated sexual relationships between adults and children. Instead, he insisted his comments had been misrepresented and argued that he was questioning aspects of criminal justice policy rather than defending child abuse.
Prominent Islamophobic columnist
Controversy accompanied Liddle throughout much of his career.
He became the first blogger censured by the Press Complaints Commission after publishing inaccurate claims in a Spectator blog, while numerous other articles prompted complaints over race, religion, immigration and gender.
Born in London in 1960, Liddle began his career in local journalism before becoming a speechwriter for the Labour Party. He later joined the BBC and rose to become editor of Radio 4’s flagship Today programme in 1998.
He resigned from the BBC in 2002 after writing a newspaper column expressing political views that were deemed incompatible with the corporation’s impartiality rules.
Liddle went on to become one of Britain’s most prominent newspaper columnists, writing for The Sunday Times, The Sun and The Spectator, where his deliberately provocative style earned him both devoted admirers and fierce critics.
Following news of his death, tributes poured in from colleagues across the mainstream media, who praised his wit, intelligence and willingness to challenge orthodox opinion.
For British Muslims, however, Rod Liddle’s legacy is likely to be defined not by his journalism alone, but by years of commentary that they believe helped normalise hostility towards Muslims in Britain’s national press.
