Cambridge cancels Savage debate

Michael Savage (San Francisco Chronicle)

Just one week before Michael Savage was scheduled to debate via video link at the Cambridge Union in England, the co-presidents of the two-century-old society informed the top-rated radio host they have canceled the event.

As WND reported, the invitation from the Cambridge Union Society for the Oct. 15 debate was issued in July after Savage was banned from entering the United Kingdom by Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government along with Muslim extremists and leaders of hate groups.

In an e-mail today to Savage producer Beowulf Rochlen, Cambridge Union leaders Julien Domercq and Jonathan Laurence wrote, "It is with great regret to inform you of the difficult decision we have taken to cancel the event."

Domercq and Laurence pointed to problems with the cost and feasibility of setting up the necessary video link, but they also cited "legal issues."

"We have reconsulted with our counsel, and been informed that there are numerous legal issues with Dr Savage speaking here," they wrote, "and so because of all of the technical, financial and legal problems involved, we have come to the reluctant conclusion that the event cannot proceed."

Rochlen told WND the video link should not have been a problem, noting the society previously has conducted debates with participants at remote locations. The society had proposed using a Polycom video conferencing unit to enable Savage to participate from a studio in the San Francisco Bay area, Rochlen said.

The society has not elaborated on the legal issues they faced, but Savage believes the British government clearly didn't want the debate to take place.

"What did the socialist Brown regime fear I might say during the debate?" Savage asked. "What are they hiding from the general public that would have been exposed? Why do they wish to hide what they did to an innocent broadcaster?"

Savage, who has documented his ordeal with the U.K. in an upcoming book, "Banned in Britain," noted official correspondence, released under the U.K.'s freedom of information law in July, revealing a decision was made at the highest level of government to use his name to provide "balance" to a "least wanted" list dominated by Muslim extremists.

Savage asked: "Did they fear my reading the secret e-mails (at the debate) which disclose how the entire British leadership colluded to destroy a man's name and reputation?"

Prior to news of the cancellation, Savage said he had hoped, during the debate, to "appeal to the British people and the incoming conservative leadership to remove my name from their list of murderers and terrorists."

The July 2 invitation to the debate said the Cambridge Union had been following his case "with great interest" and believed he was "more qualified than anyone to talk about the subject of political correctness in America and Britain."

The student society at the University of Cambridge wanted Savage to speak for the opposition in a debate titled "This House Believes Political Correctness is Sane and Necessary."

The society, founded in 1815, has hosted the likes of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American presidents Ronald Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt.