By SIMON WALTERS, POLITICAL EDITOR Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will fight defamation proceedings launched against her by a US 'shock jock' barred from entering the UK, the Home Office said today. Broadcaster Michael Savage has employed top UK law firm Olswang to sue Ms Smith for libel after she put him on the Home Office’s 16 ‘least wanted’ list. Mr Savage said he was ‘outraged’ the Government had put him in the same category as Islamic hate preachers and terrorists. Michael Savage is suing Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for £100,000 damages, after she banned him from entering Britain The letter from Olswang, due to land on Ms Smith’s desk tomorrow, accuses her of making ‘serious and damaging defamatory allegations’ against him. It says Mr Savage, whose show The Savage Nation has eight million listeners in America, has asked for ‘substantial damages’. The Mail on Sunday has been told he is demanding £100,000. But the Home Office vowed to fight the demands, insisting the decision to ban Mr Savage was the right one. A 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. 'Any legal proceedings would be robustly defended; we stand by our decision to exclude this individual. '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.' Mr Savage says ‘lunatic’ Ms Smith had no right to put him on the same list as a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, a skinhead gang leader and a Hezbollah militant who served 30 years in prison. The lawyers’ letter states: ‘Our client requires the payment of a substantial sum in damages to be agreed and retraction of the allegations. Jacqui Smith put Mr Savage on a 'least-wanted list' He also requires a personal apology from you and an acknowledgement that the Home Office has agreed to pay a substantial sum in libel damages.’ The letter says Ms Smith must also provide a ‘written undertaking from you and the Home Office not to repeat the allegations complained of and the payment of our client’s legal costs’. It continues: ‘This matter is extremely urgent as the false and defamatory material concerning our client has had enormous circulation both inside and outside the UK.’ Mr Savage said last night he will not give up his battle to make Ms Smith pay damages and say sorry. ‘I am living in fear and have had to employ security guards after being outrageously named on this list of terrorists and killers. ‘The first I knew about it was when it was issued as a Press release and I was absolutely shocked. ‘Why me? I’m not a terrorist. I’m one of America’s most popular radio hosts and a happily married father of two. ‘Maybe Jacqui Smith just plucked my name out of the hat because I’m controversial and white – to counter-balance all the Arabs named on her list. ‘It is totally preposterous but it’s deadly serious because she has made me a target. ‘My lawyers have told me I have a very strong case for defamation.’Jacqui Smith to fight US shock jock Michael Savage's libel claim after he is put on 'least-wanted list'
Last updated at 4:06 PM on 31st May 2009
Sunday, 31 May 2009
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