Michael Savage To Sue UK Over Travel Ban

Radio host Michael Savage says he’s going to sue UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for defamation after she included him on list of persons banned from visiting the country.

UK tabloid Daily Mail:

Michael Savage, who has up to 10 million listeners, branded Home Secretary Jacqui Smith a ‘lunatic’ and a ‘witch’ after being named alongside hate preachers and a member of Hamas. Last night lawyers suggested he had a strong case as he had not advocated violence, unlike others on the list. It was thought he could claim up to £200,000 in damages.

Michael Savage:

“I have been banned from Great Britain. I had not planned on going there, I had not been there in over 25 years. When I woke up this morning I just thought I could not be true. The point is that today it is me, tomorrow it will be somebody else. For her to link me up with skinheads who are killing people in Russia, to put me in league with mass murderers who kill Jews on buses, is defamation. I thought this was a joke or a mistake. How could they put Michael Savage in the same league with mass murderers when I have never avowed violence? As a result of this, I am going to sue. When has this witch heard my show, since it’s not syndicated in England? She has painted a target on my back, linking me with people who are in prison for killing people. Does she not think people might hunt me down?”

An attorney for the ACLU described the travel ban as a form of censorship, saying, “While some of these people may express views that others find disagreeable, often the cure is worse than the disease. It also deprives the citizens of that country of their ability to hear dissenting views.”

Jacqui Smith defended her actions, saying that Savage “is actually likely to cause inter-community tension or even violence” if allowed in the country. Smith: “Coming to this country is a privilege. If you can’t live by the rules that we live by, the standards and the values that we live by, we should exclude you.”

Now let’s see if the litigation-loving Phelps join the lawsuit.