Finsbury Park Mosque attack: Right-wing commentators upset after being accused of radicalisation

JK Rowling says columnists and pundits who have stoked fears about immigration have questions to answer

Right-wing commentators have reacted angrily to suggestions they were complicit in the radicalisation of a man who attacked Muslims outside a mosque in north London.

One man was killed after the driver of a van, described as a large white man, targeted people near the Finsbury Park Mosque.

JK Rowling responded to the incident, which is being treated as terrorist attack, by tweeting a photo of Ukip’s “Breaking Point” poster alongside the words: “Let's talk about how the #FinsburyPark terrorist was radicalised.”

She also included a tweet from the party’s former leader, Nigel Farage, who said the “awful attack” early on Monday morning “could only make this worse”.

In his reply, Mr Farage accused the Harry Potter author of having “ignorantly chosen not to listen to my repeated comments about not going to war with Islam”.

“Your prejudice is unhelpful,” he added.

Ukip’s “Breaking Point” poster, showing a queue of refugees and migrants which was used during the EU referendum campaign, was reported to police last June over claims that it incited racial hatred.

It drew comparisons with Nazi propaganda footage showing migrants arriving in Europe.

Ms Rowling also criticised former reality TV contestant Katie Hopkins over comments she made in May, when she encouraged “Western men” to “stand up. Rise up. Demand Action”.

“Again: let's talk about how the #FinsburyPark terrorist was radicalised,” Ms Rowling said in a second tweet on Monday morning.

In her reply, Hopkins called the Scotland-based author “christianophobic” – a word not recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary – and threatened to report her to the police. She later clarified this was a joke.

Other right-wing commentators piled in to censure Ms Rowling.

Toby Young, an associate editor at the Spectator, accused her of “exploiting terrorist incidents for political gain”.

Former Sunday Express columnist Julia Hartley-Brewer tweeted: “Yeah, I was waiting for this. Elected politicians calling for limits on immigration are now responsible for inciting terrorism, are they?”

To which Ms Rowling responded: “Yeah, I was waiting for this. We're fine with using pictures of Syrian refugees to whip up resentment about immigration, are we?”

But those on Ms Rowling’s side of the argument also offered their support, with Brendan Cox, the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox, tweeting: “Pathetic to see far right now try & portray their incitement to violence as simple commentary. You hear same excuses from islamist apologists.”

Speaking from Downing Street, Theresa May said the attack on Muslims was "every bit as insidious and destructive to our values and our way of life" as the recent string of terror attacks apparently motivated by Islamist extremism, adding: "We will stop at nothing to defeat it.

"Today we come together, as we have done before, to condemn this act and to state once again that hatred and evil of this kind will never succeed."