It is fine for Rod Liddle to write a column in a newspaper read by adults. It is not fine to invite Rod Liddle to speak to children in a school, any more than it is fine to show an 18-rated movie to children in a school. I would have thought this distinction was obvious.
https://twitter.com/Miss_Snuffy/status/1470884951474249733
There is a second issue too, which is the fact that children in school have no power to decide whether or not they wish to listen to a speaker invited by the head. They are forced to attend, unlike university students who are free to walk out.
For both these reasons, therefore, I think it would be highly irresponsible of a head teacher to invite Rod Liddle - a man who has publicly expressed not only racist views, but also paedophilic inclinations - to speak to children.
The fact that he has publicly admitted to wanting to look at child pornography and have sex with teenage girls also makes this a safeguarding issue. If I were a parent, I would be extremely concerned about such a man being invited to speak to my children.
It clearly is not "fine" to want this man to speak to schoolchildren, and I cannot understand how @Miss_Snuffy can possibly think it is.
@Miss_Snuffy And I also cannot understand in what way refusing to invite this man to speak to children in a school could remotely be regarded as "cancelling" him. He is, after all, still free to express his views to adults.
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