For years, the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins enjoyed the acclaim and approval heaped upon him by universities and institutes across the western world. Festooned with awards and lavished with honours, he rode the intellectual tidal wave of new atheism at its peak.

But now the tide is out and with it Dawkins’ brand of free-spirited thinking too; the author of The Selfish Gene has been accused of Islamophobia, transphobia and a variety of supposedly offensive comments.