Some actions provoke the opposite reaction of what was intended
When Rod Liddle set about writing his latest column in The Spectator, he likely didn’t imagine that it would prompt thousands of people to go out and register to vote.
Provoke outrage and scorn? Of course, that comes with the territory when you write hateful bile on the regular, but inspiring the nation’s youth to take an interest in politics is not on Liddle’s agenda.
If his column was anything to go by, this is actually the antithesis of what he wants to do. Now Liddle is no stranger to accusations of bigotry – it’s what he does – but his column last week really took the biscuit, accusing university students of lacking sentience and calling for the election to be held on a day when Muslims cannot vote, in a bid to ensure the Tory claim the majority they so desperately desire.
This was the paragraph that angered people the most:
“It was principally the student vote that won Canterbury for the sobbing and oppressed Rosie ‘#MeToo’ Duffield. Please don’t let that happen again. My own choice of election date would be a day when universities are closed and Muslims are forbidden to do anything on pain of hell, or something. There must be at least one day like that in the Muslim calendar, surely? That would deliver at least 40 seats to the Tories, I reckon.”
After the publication of the piece, JOE took to the streets, speaking to university students and getting them each to read a section from the column. Unsurprisingly, they are all now going to go out and register to vote. Nice work Rod.
Not registered to vote yet? Do it here.
We got students of all backgrounds to read Rod Liddle’s deranged Spectator rant, and they’re all registering to vote. pic.twitter.com/SwShtqOCVp
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) November 1, 2019
