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Mr Gaunt called Redbridge Councillor Michael Stark a 'Nazi', a 'Health Nazi' and an 'ignorant pig' during an on-air discussion about the Council's ban on placing vulnerable children with foster parents who smoke. Ofcom found that the interview in November 2008 breached the Broadcasting Code.

Reviewing Ofcom’s decision, the High Court said today the word Nazi was “capable of being highly insulting” but that in context it “may be seen as an emphatic and pejorative assertion that Mr Stark was, in the matter of smoking and fostering children, one who imposes his views on others. It was not, in the context, a description of Mr Stark’s wider political or ideological position.”

Although the Court accepted that the language used by Mr Gaunt was ‘political speech’ and thus deserving of the highest level of protection under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, it found that Ofcom’s finding was justified because Mr Gaunt had “lost his rag” and the later part of the interview had become abusive shouting.

Mr Gaunt and his legal team at Howe and Co have announced their intention to challenge today’s ruling, which if allowed to stand may have a chilling effect on robust political interviews.

Corinna Ferguson, legal officer at human rights group Liberty, which intervened in the case because of its wider importance to free speech, said:

“There is a great deal to welcome in today’s judgment and Ofcom should reflect on the close scrutiny it will face from now on. The Human Rights Act protects “shock jocks” as much as flagship political commentators and free speech is no more worthy with extra syllables. However, we are not convinced that the Court has fully applied its own logic and hope that this can be improved upon in the Court of Appeal.”

In today’s judgment, Sir Anthony May, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, said:

“The subject of the interview was political and controversial and the person interviewed was an elected politician who would expect to receive and tolerate a rough ride. The expressions complained of were not essentially statements of fact, but expressions of value or opinion. It was therefore an interview where the claimant’s freedom of expression should be accorded a high degree of protection and that was capable of extending to offensive expression.”

Contact: Liberty’s press office on 020 7378 3656 or 07973 831 128

Notes to Editors

1. In November 2008, Redbridge Council announced a policy prohibiting smokers (even those who smoked outside the home) from fostering or adopting children. Councillor Michael Stark defended the policy and was invited onto Jon Gaunt’s talkSPORT radio show on 7 November 2008. As a former foster child himself, Gaunt expressed the view that it was more important for children to have a good parent than a non-smoking parent. In the heated debate that followed, Gaunt referred to Councillor Stark as a “health Nazi”, a “Nazi” and an “ignorant pig”. Gaunt offered an apology for the comments; however a few days later the management at talkSPORT sacked him.

2. On 27 January 2010, in the High Court, Jon Gaunt won the right to challenge the Ofcom finding on the basis that it is incompatible with the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.