“Imagine just for a moment, Nick, being one of the millions of British Muslims, law-abiding British Muslims, watching him say those things.”
TV and radio presenter Matthew Stadlen tore into the BBC on Newsnight for giving “extremist” Douglas Murray an eight-minute interview on primetime television.
Murray appeared in a separate segment of the programme, where he told BBC political editor Nick Watt that the UK had pursued “a wildly stupid and lax immigration policy for decades” and defended his comments that the UK needs “less Islam”.
Watt challenged Murray on his “less Islam” remark, pointing out that it seemed to imply a desire for fewer Muslim people in the UK, rather than just fewer extremists.
The Spectator’s associate editor also said that people who attend protests against Israel’s war on Gaza “support the death cult [Hamas]” and claimed they “would murder Jews and the rest of us next”.
These comments went unchallenged by Watt, who thanked Murray for being interviewed.
Asked what he thought about Murray, Stadlen pointed out that Murray had once said Scottish-born Humza Yousaf, former First Minister of Scotland, “infiltrated the British political system” and called him the “First Minister of Gaza”.
He went on to say: “This man is an extremist in my view and the Overton window has shifted so significantly, and I don’t criticise Newsnight for doing it, that he has been given an eight-minute interview on prime BBC television.”
Stadlen noted that he found it “concerning”, adding that “more and more people, it seems to me, share his repulsive views”.
“Imagine just for a moment, Nick, being one of the millions of British Muslims, law-abiding British Muslims watching him say those things.”
Watt replied: “Yeah well we did question him”.
Donald Trump promoted Murray’s new book earlier this week on his social media platform Truth Social, referring to the commentator as “my friend”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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