A climate activist has sparked outrage after saying that “a lot of people won’t be grieving” the murder of pro-Brexit politician Ann Widdecombe during a BBC discussion of her killing, fuelling criticism of the broadcaster’s decision to invite her onto the programme.
Speaking after Widdecombe was murdered at her home in Dartmoor, southwest England, 26-year-old activist Daze Aghaji described her death as “a sad way to go out” but argued that “there is a lot of controversy around how she lived her political life.”
“It would go amiss to not mention that she pushed against LGBTQ+ rights throughout all of her career,” Aghaji said. She also criticised Widdecombe’s comments about victims of former film producer Harvey Weinstein during the #MeToo movement and her longstanding opposition to abortion.
“So I feel like even though what’s happened is absolutely awful, there are a lot of people who won’t be grieving this,” she said. “As someone who is queer, my rights have been affected by her speeches.”
The comments prompted widespread criticism, with many questioning why the BBC had invited Aghaji to comment on the killing rather than focus on the murder itself.
Aghaji was not the only public figure to provoke outrage following Widdecombe’s death. Heather Herbert, a transgender former Labour parliamentary candidate, is being investigated after allegedly celebrating the former MP’s killing on social media and saying she hoped Widdecombe had “screamed in agony,” according to the Daily Mail.
Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her home last week. Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation after the case was reclassified as terrorism.
She served as a Conservative MP from 1987 to 2010 and held several ministerial posts under Prime Minister John Major during the 1990s. She later served briefly as a Member of the European Parliament before Britain left the European Union and joined Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in 2023.
Her death is the third fatal attack on a British politician in the past decade, following the murders of MPs Jo Cox in 2016 and Sir David Amess in 2021.
