Leave Martha Alone!

Mike Riggs | June 20, 2008

Britain's Home Office has denied a visa to one of America's most notorious white collar criminals: Martha Stewart.

"We continue to oppose the entry to the UK of individuals where we believe their presence in the United Kingdom is not conducive to the public good or where they have been found guilty of serious criminal offenses abroad," he said.

Theodore Dalrymple's essay from the winter 2001 issue of City Journal offers some context for understanding the Home Office's decision:

The British attitude to immigration and immigrants has always been grudging, a mixture of xenophobia and socialist zero-sum economics. Britons have traditionally regarded the desire of foreigners to come to their shores as more of a threat than a compliment...

Despite the xenophobic, socialist snub, Martha responded as she always does to these little inconveniences—in good form:

"She has engagements with English companies and business leaders and hopes this can be resolved so that she will be able to visit soon," Charles Koppelman, chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, said in a statement.

If standard efforts at negotiations fail, she should send the Home Office some treats.

To read about how other government entities have tried to hurt sweet Martha, check out reason's "Why Martha Stewart should go to heaven and the SEC should go to hell."