Banned 'shock jock' fights back

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An American "shock jock" who is barred from the UK has described his inclusion on the banned list as "crazy".

Radio host Michael Savage, 67, said: "None of my words have ever led to violence for the simple reason that I do not call for violence."

The radio presenter, real name Michael Weiner, says he is suing Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for defamation.

Ms Smith is fighting the case and the Home Office says the decision to bar him was the right one.

Ku Klux Klan

Mr Savage told BBC Radio 5 live's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "None of my words have ever led to violence for the simple reason that I do not call for violence, I do not provoke violence, and moreover, I want to say that provoking violence is illegal in the US as well."

"How in the world can she allege that my words have caused violence while I am still on the air all these 15 years?"

The radio host, who said he was a long-standing Anglophile, announced last month that he was to sue the home secretary over his addition to the banned list.

FROM BBC RADIO 5 LIVE <a class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/">More from BBC Radio 5 live</a> <a class="" href="/1/hi/world/americas/8035449.stm">Profile: Michael Savage</a>

It also includes former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Stephen Donald Black, Hamas MP Unis Al-Astal, Jewish extremist Mike Guzovsky and American anti-gay Baptist pastor Fred Waldron Phelps.

The Home Office described Mr Savage as a "controversial daily radio host considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence".

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The home secretary has made it clear that if such a case was brought that any legal proceedings would be robustly defended."