boxing day 2012: Piers Morgan's British critics launch counter-deportation petition to make sure he stays in US

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Piers Morgan's British critics launch counter-deportation petition to make sure he stays in US

A petition to have the journalist deported after he criticised pro gun campaigners has attracted 71,000 signatures

Now a second petition saying he must stay because the British do not want him also has around 1,100 votes of support

PUBLISHED: 15:34 EST, 26 December 2012 | UPDATED: 09:47 EST, 27 December 2012

First Piers Morgan became the subject of a petition calling for him to be deported from the US for upsetting the gun lobby there.

Now a counter-petition has been started, asking for America to keep him – not because he’s popular there but (allegedly) because no one here wants him back.

The broadcaster is at the centre of a row after criticising pro-gun campaigners on his nightly US chat show in the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, in which 20 children and six adults were shot dead.

More than 72,000 Americans have so far signed a petition on the White House website calling for him to be kicked out.

A second petition on the White House website now insists he must stay in the US, because 'no one in the UK wants him back'

A campaign to have Piers Morgan deported from America faced a new hurdle yesterday as critics of the television presenter launched a counter bid to keep him where he is

But a second petition on the same website now insists he must stay in the US, not only because he has a constitutional right to free speech but also – ‘more important’ – because ‘no one in the UK wants him back’.

So far, just over 400 people have signed the ‘Keep Piers Morgan in the USA’ petition so it has some way to go before it reaches the 25,000 signatures which guarantees a response from the US government.

It was proposed by Janusz Jasinski, a Birmingham-based website designer. To add to the former newspaper editor’s embarrassment, a third petition is calling on Home Secretary Theresa May to stop him from returning to Britain.

Appearing on the US website Change.org it has so far attracted more than 100 signatures and states: ‘We got rid of him once and why should we have to suffer again.

The Americans wanted him so they should put up with him.’ This petition was written by ‘Hackergate’, alias delivery driver Steven Nott, who gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry about how he tried to raise the alarm in 1999 about how mobile phones could be easily hacked. Last week Morgan repeatedly attacked pro-gun guests on his CNN show.

More than 71,000 Americans have already signed an initial petition calling for the British journalists deportation after he criticised pro-gun campaigners on his chat show

Now a second petition on the White House website now insists he must stay in the US, not only because he has a constitutional right to free speech but also 'more important' because 'no one in the UK wants him back'

In a heated exchange with Larry Pratt, of Gun Owners for America, Morgan called him an ‘idiot’, ‘dangerous’ and an ‘unbelievably stupid man’ after he argued that more guns would actually cut crime.

In another debate on gun controls, Morgan shouted down economist John Lott, author of More Guns, Less Crime and branded him a liar for claiming gun crime trends in countries such as Britain supported his thesis.

With CNN reportedly about to overhaul its prime time line-up and possibly move Morgan to a later slot, the combative presenter has not commented on the row since Christmas Day, when he tweeted: ‘Merry Christmas! Even to those who want me deported.’

He has stood by what he said, insisting that banning assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines is no attack on the US Constitution but simple common sense.