Peter Tatchell deleted a tweet calling Ann Widdecombe a bigot after reports said she had been murdered. He later said he did not celebrate her death and that his post had been written before the reports surfaced.
He said he only heard the reports 10 minutes before his follow-up tweet. Tatchell also wrote: "No one deserves to die – let alone be murdered. RIP Ann".
Peter Tatchell follow-up tweet
Tatchell’s clarification came in the same post in which he rejected the reaction to his earlier message. He wrote, "Contrary to the responses to my earlier post, I did NOT “celebrate” Ann Widdecombe’s death. RIP".
He added, "I highlighted the harm & suffering she helped cause to LGBTs". That put his original criticism and his later denial in the same public record, after the first tweet had already been removed.
Ann Widdecombe reports
He said his post was scheduled long before reports that Widdecombe was murdered were published. That timing is central to his explanation: the tweet about her had gone out before he said he learned of the death reports.
For readers following the exchange, the practical point is that Tatchell has now separated his criticism of Widdecombe from any claim that he welcomed her death. The remaining gap is the first reaction that followed the deleted tweet and the murder reports, which he did not spell out.
Peter Tatchell and public reaction
The episode left Tatchell relying on a short, direct correction rather than a longer defense. He kept the focus on his earlier criticism, his denial of celebration, and his assertion that the tweet was drafted before the reports appeared.
His last public line in the exchange was simple: "No one deserves to die – let alone be murdered. RIP Ann". That is the statement now attached to the deleted tweet, not the earlier insult.
