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Racism row TV host hits out at BBC

Kilroy-Silk
Kilroy-Silk: Said column had been "republished in error."

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- British talkshow host Robert Kilroy-Silk has hit out at the BBC for not supporting him in a row over an article in which he called Arabs "suicide bombers, limb-amputators, women repressors."

The BBC has axed his morning half-hour show pending an inquiry but Kilroy-Silk accused his bosses of "giving way" to a lobby demanding his resignation.

He said he had hoped the corporation would have "kept the programme going and dealt with the criticisms."

The former British Labour MP, 61, also said he thought the BBC had reacted "differently" to the row than it otherwise would have done because of the imminent publication of the Hutton report, which has put in the spotlight the issue of BBC presenters writing for newspapers.

The corporation said there would be no further comment until its investigation was concluded. (Full story)

The presenter admitted to ITV's Trevor McDonald that he was in a "difficult position" over his article in last week's Sunday Express.

However, he insisted his views did not encroach on his "impartiality" as a talk show host and that he "would have preferred" the BBC to have reacted differently.

The head of the Commission for Racial Equality Monday accused Kilroy-Silk of posing as a "24-carat martyr" and called for him to issue an apology for his article.

CRE chairman Trevor Phillips told the UK's Press Association he did not believe the BBC presenter was a racist, but that he was risking his reputation by trying to "defend the indefensible."

He said Kilroy-Silk should "learn something about Muslims and Arabs" and use some of his "vast earnings" to support a Muslim charity as recompense for his remarks.

Britain is home to about 1.8 million Muslims, many of them second and third generation descendants of immigrants from Britain's former colonies.

Kilroy-Silk, whose daytime chat show has 1.2 million viewers, has expressed "very deep regret" over the "great distress and offence" the column had clearly caused.

He also pointed out that the column had been republished in error, and had caused no offence when it originally appeared in April last year in response to opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. "It is not what I would have said today," he noted.

Amid a welter of mainly hostile media comment, Kilroy-Silk defended himself in an interview with this week's Sunday Telegraph newspaper, asserting his right to speak his mind.

"If I am not allowed to say that there are Arab states that are evil, despotic and treat women abominably, if I am not allowed to say that, which I know to be a fact, then what can I say?"

The decision by the publicly funded BBC, which is trying to protect its reputation for impartiality by stopping staff from writing controversial freelance articles, to suspend Kilroy-Silk's show has itself drawn criticism.

"Our tradition of free speech is precious and we shouldn't lose sight of that," said Tory opposition leader Michael Howard.


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