The terrorism-murder of conservative British politician Anne Widdecombe is a masterclass in Coulter’s Law. While originally coined in relation to mass shootings, Coulter’s Law can be applied almost universally to the legacy media. That is: the longer it takes the legacy media to identify the race of a criminal, the less likely it is to be a white male.
In the case of Widdecombe’s murder, the legacy media told us it was a ‘white British man’ within a nanosecond of the news breaking. To really rub it in, they’ve published videos of the suspect at his home, taking out the bins without a shirt. Oddly, though, they’re still refusing to actually name the killer.
The other thing the legacy media were desperate to drive home is that police were not (initially) treating the murder as terrorism. Except that now, grudgingly, they have to admit that that’s exactly what police are treating it as.
Laurence Taylor, the head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, said today: “We now have new information and evidence that means counter-terrorism policing is now leading the investigation.”
The same police who initially played down the killing have now re-arrested the 28-year-old white British suspect on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. He drove 270 miles from Rotherham to Widdecombe’s remote Devon bungalow with what neighbours described as “some kind of wooden pole” in a red car. The former MP was found bludgeoned with severe head injuries.
Reform UK saw through the initial stonewalling immediately. One source told the press it was clear “we are being gaslit by the police”.
Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, said: “A lot of journalists must now apologise to Nigel [Farage] and us at Reform. You know who you are.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has since offered Farage a meeting with the body responsible for politicians’ security and announced a review of protection for former MPs and parties outside parliament. The suspect, it turns out, was unknown to the Prevent programme. No previous extremism flags. Just a man who apparently decided on a whim to travel clear across the country and beat a 78-year-old conservative to death.
The legacy media’s haste to broadcast the suspect’s race while the motive was still being downplayed tells its own story. When the perpetrator fits the preferred narrative, race is front and centre within hours. Compare that to the deceit and doublespeak when an ethnic African murdered little girls at a dance party. Then, when inconvenient facts emerge – counterterrorism taking over, political motivation no longer deniable – the same outlets suddenly discover the virtues of caution and due process.
Widdecombe spent decades saying exactly what she believed, popular or not. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp paid tribute to that quality:
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp […] said Ann “always fearlessly spoke her mind” and never worried whether her views were popular or fashionable.
He added: “She always said exactly what she believed and exactly what she thought. Her integrity and her fortitude were unmatched.”
Mr Philp said Britain needed people willing to enter public life and speak openly despite the risks.
He added: “Debate and disagreement are what make our country great. Ann Widdecombe exemplified that every minute of her life.”
And she was brutally murdered for it. And the left erupted into spontaneous celebration, like Western Sydney’s Muslims setting off fireworks and doing blockies after October 7.
The establishment’s first instinct was to pretend her murder as just another random killing. Only when the evidence became impossible to ignore did counterterrorism policing step in. Reform UK called it gaslighting from the start. The rest of us are left wondering how many more prominent conservatives will have to be attacked before the authorities and their media enablers stop pretending political violence only comes from one direction.
