Rod Liddle has died at the age of 66. In 2019, Fraser Nelson, then-editor of The Spectator, wrote about the foolishness of those who thought he could tell Rod what to say:

The power of editors is comically overstated. I’m struck by the number of politicians who imagine that there’s a hierarchy: that editors shape the opinions of columnists who, in turn, shape opinions of readers. The truth, I’m afraid, is that the hierarchy works in the other way. People like reading well-argued pieces with which they might disagree. Editors and writers alike serve at the pleasure of those readers. If they find writers boring, unoriginal, repetitive hectoring then they stop buying the publication and choose another. The power belongs to them – and only to them.

When I became editor, I told my wife that the job was certain to last only last a few years. I thought I’d go down with Rod Liddle, that he and I would drive like Thelma and Louise over the cliff in the name of free speech

Good writing seeks to inform, to entertain, to make people think – but not convert anyone to a particular point of view. Anyway, writers tend not to change anyone’s opinion and I’ve never met a columnist who thinks otherwise. Readers tend to know their own minds. Editors can hire or fire columnists; steer them towards a topic (or away from one). But no editor tells a columnist what to say. And if what they write causes a stir, our job is to defend to the death their right to say it. Even if we fervently disagree with it.

That’s why, when I became editor, I told my wife that the job was certain to last only last a few years. I thought I’d go down with Rod Liddle, that he and I would drive like Thelma and Louise over the cliff in the name of free speech. We’ve come close a few times, but stayed (just) on the right side: the issue you’re reading is my 500th as editor. Over the past ten years, I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting many readers, and their most common plea is ‘Don’t tone down Rod’. It’s just as well: I’m not sure anyone could.