Over at the Spectator Douglas Murray complains that he’s been ostracised by the Tory leadership over his notorious speech at the Pim Fortuyn Memorial Conference in 2006 (“It is late in the day, but Europe still has time to turn around the demographic time-bomb which will soon see a number of our largest cities fall to Muslim majorities. It has to. All immigration into Europe from Muslim countries must stop…. Conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board”).

According to Murray: “What I advocated had been argued by members of the conservative party of Holland and was, and is, being argued by mainstream politicians across Europe – from Spain and France to Holland and Denmark.” Really? Perhaps Murray could tell us the names of these “mainstream politicians” who are arguing in favour of the collective punishment of Europe’s Muslim communities.

Murray recounts that he was approached by an unnamed Tory MP – “a Cameron loyalist” – and invited to repudiate his 2006 speech: “I refused to change my opinions and so a slightly surreal attempt at a freeze-out began.” But not to worry – “excommunication from David Cameron’s Tories – let alone David Cameron’s Lib Dem allies – is no bad thing”, since they have “befriended and appeased most types of Islamist, here and abroad”.