Kelvin MacKenzie doubles down on 'Islamophobic' column in The Sun after attacking hijab-wearing presenter

'All I did was ask a simple question,' 69-year-old claims

MacKenzie, pictured in 2011, edited The Sun from 1981 to 1994 (Getty)

Kelvin MacKenzie has defended his controversial column questioning why a Channel 4 News presenter reported on the Nice terror attack when she is a Muslim woman who wears a hijab.

The former Sun editor sparked a flurry of complaints and criticism on Monday after he described in his column how he “couldn’t believe his eyes” upon seeing journalist Fatima Manji, who has been at the station for four years, presenting coverage of the terror attack on Bastille Day in Nice.

“Was it appropriate for her to be on camera when there has been yet another shocking slaughter by a Muslim?” he asked.

The column was widely criticised on social media with individuals like Baroness Sayeeda Warsi penning a letter of complaint to The Sun’s editor-in-chief Tony Gallagher. Ms Manji also defended herself against the column and accused MacKenzie of smearing Muslims.

Blaming the backlash on the “twerperati”, MacKenzie wrote another column on Friday reiterating his belief that the editor of Channel 4 News “made an error” in rostering Ms Manji to present from the studio the day of the attack. Days after the broadcast, Ms Manji said on Twitter her shift had been "in the diary for a while".

“All I did was ask a simple question,” MacKenzie wrote. “[…] A reasonable inquiry you would have thought with the sensitivities that currently exist in this nation and the rest of Europe.”

He then posed a second question: “Should presenters be allowed to wear artefacts that advertise their religion?

“If, for instance, one of the regular presenters was a Christian (I’m joking since at C4 you wouldn’t get an interview) would they be allowed to wear a huge cross outside of their shirt or blouse to the same prominence as a hijab?”

Today, Channel 4 News announced they, along with Manji, had launched an official complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) on the grounds of religious discrimination in response to MacKenzie’s original column.

The editor of Channel 4 News, Ben de Pear, said in a statement: “ITN accepts and understands that our reporters and presenters are in the public eye and can expect criticism and comment from many quarters, including newspaper columnists. What it cannot accept is an employee being singled out on the basis of her religion.

“We are not going to simply stand by when an employee is subject to an act of religious discrimination,” he said.

At present, Ipso has received over 1700 complaints in relation to the article.