by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
A Home Office list of people banned from entering the United Kingdom includes U.S. anti-gay activists Fred Phelps and Shirley Phelps-Roper, as well as U.S. talk radio host Michael Savage.
Savage appears on the list under his real name, Michael Alan Weiner.
People end up on the list for fostering hatred or extremism. Terrorists and criminals also have faced bans.
"(Naming them) enables people to see the sorts of unacceptable behavior we are not willing to have in this country," said Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. "Coming to this country is a privilege. We won't allow people into this country who are going to propagate the sort of views … that fundamentally go against our values."
In the past, Britain also has banned rap singer Snoop Dogg and TV cooking-and-crafts maven Martha Stewart, a convicted criminal who spent five months in prison for lying about a stock sale.
Savage said he plans to sue Smith, whom he called a "lunatic", for defamation unless she apologizes.
