CPS not to pursue charges against Kilroy

Former BBC One presenter Robert Kilroy-Silk will not face criminal charges over comments he made about Arabs in his Sunday Express column.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said that criminal charges will not be brought against the former BBC One morning TV chat show host who was recently elected as an MEP.

Following the public outcry in January, Mr Kilroy-Silk said that while he "regretted" the piece, he denied that he had been racist and defended the views expressed in the article that appeared in the Sunday Express newspaper on January 4.

However, the BBC suspended his weekday morning show, saying that it "strongly disassociates itself" from the views expressed by Robert Kilroy-Silk in the article.

Following public outrage, he later resigned, though his production company continued to produce the replacement morning TV show.

In the article, he accused Arabs of having "murdered more than 3,000 civilians on September 11", and for carrying out "cold-blooded killings" in Mombasa and Yemen, and for being "suicide bombers, limb-amputators, women repressors".

He added that the Arab countries had nothing "useful" or "valuable" to contribute to the world besides oil - which was "discovered, is produced and is paid for by the West".

Following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police after a complaint by the Commission for Racial Equality, the CPS said that it had not advised prosecution of Mr Kilroy-Silk.

In January, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) complained to the BBC, the Press Complaints Commission and the Sunday Express.

In a letter to BBC One Controller Lorraine Heggessey the MCB urged "appropriate action", branding Mr Kilroy-Silk's remarks as "ignorant, extremely derogatory and indisputably racist".

(SP)