Why would  Michael Savage a largely unknown American conservative “shock jock” be banned from entering Britain ? This question has been perplexing me for the last couple of days.

Britain has a long tradition of supporting freedom of expression not only at home but also in her former colonies. Today we witness British armed forces fighting and dying in far flung corners of the world ostensibly to promote ideal of freedom of expression. For this reason the decision of British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to ban Michael Savage seems all the more strange.

In response to the ban Mr. Savage is threatening legal action against the British government unless his name is removed forthwith from the banned list and a public apology made.

In its defence the British government says that it wishes to ban people from entering the United Kingdom who are “seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence.“  How far Michael Savage foments inter-community violence is a topic I am sure his legal counsel would love to debate.

This whole episode with the banning of Michael Savage is strange to say the least. The British government in the past has spent millions of pounds   providing protection to Salman Rushdie purely in defence of his freedom of expression. So why ban Michael Savage?

His story comes in the wake of Geert Wilders also being banned from the United Kingdom. In his case too Jacqui Smith thought his film Fitna would cause inter-community violence.

Many will be asking the question has Jacqui Smith lost its marbles or are we witnessing the dark tactics of a government in it’s last throes ?

For what it’s worth I do not think that Britain’s commitment to free speech has been abolished nor do I think the British government has lost its marbles. I believe the underlying reasons for banning Michael Savage  is a cynical attempt to harvest Muslim votes.

Britain’s Labour government is acutely aware of how its foreign interventions are being viewed by the Muslim voter at home.

The Muslim electorate has traditionally been very supportive of the Labour Party. With only a choice between the Conservatives (who are viewed as the paty of the moneyed and anti-immigrant) and Labour historically Muslims have supported Labour. Labour rewarded this support with a British invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The rising death toll of civilians / collateral damage as a result of western anti-terror operations in the Muslim world  continues unabated. As more civilians die Muslim angst with British foreign policy and the Labour government grows. Herein lies the real reason why Jacqui Smith to ban a little known (well in Britain at lest) American “shock jock.”

You see most political pundits are predicting that Gordon Brown’s Labour government will be heavily defeated in the next general election. Realising that every vote counts I believe Labour is trying  save themselves by garnering support from its tradition voter base in the Muslim community.

Acts such as banning Geert Wilders and Michael Savage they hope will ingratiate themselves to the Muslim community.  This more than any other reason and not the spectre of  fostering hatred  lead Jacqui Smith to ban Michael Savage from entering Britain.

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