On Sunday 21 October, in a column in the Sunday Times, Rod Liddle made a number of divisive comments. Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow, Rushanara Ali, strongly condemns his actions.

Rushanara Ali MP said: 

"I absolutely condemn Rod Liddle’s reprehensible remarks in his recent column in the Sunday Times. Anjem Choudary’s incitement of hatred has no place in our society and neither does the dangerous and divisive rhetoric used by Rod Liddle.

It is disgraceful that the Sunday Times printed Liddle’s terrifying comments, where he advocated that extremists should blow themselves up “somewhere a decent distance from where the rest of us live” and used Tower Hamlets as the example. Hundreds of thousands of people live and work in the borough, which has suffered from terrorist attacks such as the IRA bombing of Canary Wharf in 1996 and the Brick Lane nail bomb attack in 1999 carried out by a Neo-Nazi.

This is a desperate attempt by a desperate man in need of self-publicity, regardless of the consequences and potential for inciting violence in our society. It is deeply concerning considering the dramatic rise in hate crime in recent years. I hope the Sunday Times reflects on whether they want to continue to be associated with this despicable man and his despicable views."