For Immediate Release
April 25, 2005
DR. STEVE BEST HAS BEEN BANNED FROM THE UK
Dr. Steve Best, Press Officer and determined American activist and liberationist, has been banned from entering the United Kingdom by the British Home Office for the purpose of speaking at the Newchurch Victory Gathering on Saturday September the 3rd in Burton.
The banning of Dr. Best comes hard on the heels of the announced closing of the guinea pig breeding facility at Newchurch, attributed to none other than the actions of animal rights activists supported by the speeches of Dr. Best.
This of course makes a mockery of the Human Rights Act and trivialises any concept of ‘free speech’ that may be left. Dr. Best has always argued his comments have been sensationalised and taken completely out of context but now stands aside fellow Press Officer Dr. Jerry Vlasak as another animal advocate who cannot enter the UK.
The Home Secretary for the UK stated in a letter to Dr. Best: “….The Secretary of State considers that should you be allowed to enter the UK and attend further UK demonstrations or conferences you would continue to express such views. In doing so, you would be committing listed behaviours and would therefore be behaving in a way that is non-conducive to the public good. In light of these factors, the Secretary of State is satisfied that you should be excluded from the UK on the grounds that your exclusion is conducive to the public good. We instruct you not to travel to the UK as you will be refused admission on arrival. There is NO statutory right of appeal against the Secretary of State’s decision.”
Dr. Steve Best: Associate Professor of Philosophy and Humanities and Chair of Philosophy University of Texas, El Paso: Teacher, Philosopher, Writer and Activist can be contacted via his website at http://www.drstevebest.org/