Smith to defend 'shock jock' ban

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/americas/8076197.stm

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Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is to fight defamation procedures against her by a US "shock jock" barred from the UK.

Radio host Michael Savage, real name Michael Weiner, is suing for defamation after being "named and shamed" on a Home Office list of undesirables.

Mr Weiner, 67, says his inclusion on the list alongside a former Ku Klux Klan leader and other extremists has made him a target for attack.

But the Home Office says the decision to bar him was the right one.

A Home Office spokesman said: "As the home secretary has already said, he was excluded for engaging in unacceptable behaviour by making comments that might provoke others to serious criminal acts and foster hatred that might lead to inter-community violence."

'Way of life'

He added: "Coming to the UK is a privilege that we refuse to extend to those who abuse our standards and values to undermine our way of life."

The list, issued earlier this month, also included former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Stephen Donald Black, Hamas MP Yunis Al-Astal, Jewish extremist Mike Guzovsky and American anti-gay Baptist pastor Fred Waldron Phelps.

His London-based lawyers have written to Ms Smith demanding she issue a press release retracting the "allegations" as well as the payment of "substantial" damages.

They are also demanding a personal apology from Ms Smith plus an undertaking by her and the UK government "not to repeat the allegations complained of".

Mr Weiner, whose right-wing radio show, The Savage Nation, is one of the most popular talk shows in the US, said: "I am living in fear and have had to employ security guards after being outrageously named on this list of terrorists and killers," he said.

"I have no idea what criminal acts they refer to in their press release. They have refused to explain, despite our requests."