Matthew Stadlen called out a Newsnight interview the program aired with Spectator editor Douglas Murray, who he labelled an “extremist.”
The presenter and political commentator was a guest on the BBC program on Wednesday evening, the same show in which Newsnight broadcast an interview with associate editor of the Spectator, Douglas Murray.
During the interview with BBC political editor Nick Watt, Murray said the UK needs “less Islam” and accused people who attend protests against Israel’s war on Gaza of “supporting the death cult [Hamas].”
After the interview was aired, Stadlen seemed to call out Newsnight for inviting Murray on for the eight-minute chat, pointing out some of the controversial statements he had made in the past.
Stadlen highlighted how Murray had previously accused former First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf of “infiltrating the British political system,” despite the fact he was born in Britain.
The commentator went on to label Murray an “extremist”, and said his platforming by Newsnight showed how much the “Overton window has shifted.”
Although he said he doesn’t criticise Newsnight for doing the interview, Stadlen did say it was “concerning.”
“He has been given an eight-minute interview on prime BBC television and that is concerning, because more and more people share his repulsive views. Imagine being one of the millions of Muslims, law-abiding British Muslims, watching him say those things.”
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