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‘Newsnight has done a great disservice by giving these insane terrorists the oxygen of publicity. Apart from brutal murders, it’s what they seek most. They are playing into the hands of these terrorists by giving them the opportunity to speak directly to a small group of vulnerable people who may be seduced by their fundamentalist and extreme messages.’ – Nigel Evans, MP.
Speaking in August 2014, Nigel Evans was not alone in his condemnation of Newsnight. The former chair of parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee Dame Pauline Neville-Jones also expressed concern that “a corporation that has a reputation to preserve” would broadcast an interview with the jihadist “Awlaki” (not to be confused with Anwar al-Awlaki), who “talked of ISIS beheading its enemies, said he hated the UK and that he would only return to the country to ‘plant a bomb somewhere.’”
