Julie Burchill's book about cancel culture cancelled over Twitter row

The publisher of a book about cancel culture by Julie Burchill has cancelled it after the writer was accused of Islamophobia on Twitter.

The book, Welcome to the Woke Trials, had been due to be published by Little, Brown in April.

But Burchill got embroiled with a row with fellow writer Ash Sarkar.

Little, Brown said her comments were "not defensible from a moral or intellectual standpoint" and "crossed a line with regard to race and religion".

A statement from the company said: "We will no longer be publishing Julie Burchill's book. This is not a decision we have taken lightly.

'Challenging perspectives'

"We believe passionately in freedom of speech at Little, Brown and we have always published authors with controversial or challenging perspectives - and we will continue to do so.

"While there is no legal definition of hate speech in the UK, we believe that Julie's comments on Islam are not defensible from a moral or intellectual standpoint, that they crossed a line with regard to race and religion, and that her book has now become inextricably linked with those views."

Writing on Facebook, Burchill said the publishers had told her there was "also a concern that the line might be crossed again during the promotion of the book", to which she added: "I'LL SAY!"

Sarkar accused Burchill of Islamophobia after the Sunday Telegraph columnist made comments about the age of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives.

According to Little, Brown's official description, Welcome to the Woke Trials was inspired by the "vitriolic reaction" Burchill received in response to an article she wrote for The Observer in 2013, after which she was "pursued by the outrage mob".

The publisher billed it as "part-memoir and part-indictment of what happened to Burchill between then and now, as the regiments of the woke took over".