Sajid Javid joins condemnation of Rod Liddle over ‘joke’ about banning Muslims from voting

Chancellor Sajid Javid has joined a chorus of condemnation of Spectator columnist Rod Liddle after he suggested planning elections for a time when Muslims cannot vote.

Sajid Javid. Picture: PA

In an article headlined “If you do one thing this election, stop your kids voting”, Mr Liddle wrote: “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.” Mr Javid, who is of Muslim heritage, said Mr Liddle’s words were “not funny and not acceptable”.

“Not clear if the Rod Liddle comment is supposed to be a joke, but it’s not funny and not acceptable,” he tweeted. “No community in our country should be put down that way.”

The Spectator’s assistant editor Isabel Hardman also said she “profoundly disagrees” with Mr Liddle’s piece, adding she has “nothing to do” with pieces in the magazine except those she writes herself.

Responding to his critics, Mr Liddle wrote in a blog on the Spectator website yesterday, claiming his words had been taken “out of context”.