BRITAIN: A series of concerts by a reggae star accused of promoting anti-gay violence were cancelled last night.
All five of the shows by controversial Jamaican act Sizzla Kalonji have been scrapped after it emerged that British Home Secretary Mr David Blunkett considered banning the singer from entering the UK.
A government source said Mr Blunkett, who can turn away foreign visitors on public order grounds, was considering preventing Kalonji from entering the UK.
Sizzla, whose real name is Miguel Collins, was due to begin a controversial series of British concerts last night but at least two of the events have been cancelled and others remain in doubt.
Mr Peter Tatchell of the gay rights campaign group OutRage! said: "For the last two weeks OutRage! has organised hundreds of our supporters to blitz the venues with emails urging the cancellation of Sizzla's concerts on the grounds that he incites racist and homophobic violence."
Sizzla's first scheduled gig was to have taken place at the Empire in Milton Keynes last night but the event was cancelled at the last minute.
A further event in Birmingham tomorrow has also been cancelled. A Home Office spokeswoman said she was unable to confirm whether a decision to exclude the performer was likely.