Human rights group Liberty has spoken out in support of presenter and journalist Jon Gaunt who, as previously reported, was sacked by TalkSport for calling a councillor a "nazi" in a heated debate about smokers not being allowed to foster children.
Gaunt subsequently apologised saying he meant to say "health nazi", ie he was accusing the councillor of supporting excessive nanny state style legislation, rather than accusing him of being a xenophobic facist. As I understand it, the meaning of the outburst was pretty obvious in the context of the debate, and while he probably shouldn't have made the remark on air, most were surprised when the presenter was actually fired over the incident. Gaunt is reportedly considering his options re disputing his dismissal.
Meanwhile, Liberty director, Shami Chakrabarti, has written to TalkSport saying: "We understand that the grounds given for summary termination are Mr Gaunt's on-air references to the 'health Nazis' he felt responsible for banning smokers from fostering children in Redbridge. This strikes us as the most bizarre and disproportionate approach to someone who was no doubt contracted to excite political debate amongst a whole host of listeners who might not normally engage with news and current affairs programmes".
She continues: "For present purposes, we make no comment on the substance of the childcare policy in question. However we would remind you that any court must read Mr Gaunt's contract in the light of his right to free expression under article 10 of the Human Rights Act. Whilst this is far from an absolute right (particularly in the context of broadcasting), to be meaningful it must extend to contentious as well as consensual speech and we find it hard to envisage how your actions could possibly constitute a proportionate and lawful response to the present facts".
Liberty have also offered to assist Gaunt if he does decide to go legal over his dismissal. Though it would be slightly ironic if they did, given that the always mouthy Gaunt hasn't been especially supportive of the human rights group in the past. Last year in his Sun column he called Chakrabarti "the most dangerous woman in Britain".