WHO WON'T LET THE DOGG IN?

Rapper Snoop Dogg has been crowing to US television about his recent victory over the UK Government, who had previously denied him a visa to re-enter the country after an altercation during his last visit involving several members of his entourage and a large number of burly policemen at Heathrow. After a few fisticuffs and a legal battle Snoop (real name Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr) was denied permission to tour and to promote his charity work.

The rapper was in bullish mood this week as he spoke to Larry King on CNN about the issue, claiming total victory over the plucky but outgunned British government.

"The judge found me to be innocent, and now I'm able to go back there. Everybody in the UK, big Snoop Dogg will be back to come give you all what you want."

Lower interest rates and a better standard of Saturday night TV? That's a big promise, Calvin. You'd better have a huge nizzle to shizzle if you're going to deliver on this.

One problem though. The British Home Office have appealed the decision, saying they are "disappointed" with the judge's findings, so any planned visit by Snoop will have to wait until after the next hearing, which could be several months away.

The original London hearing in December was adjourned after Snoop's lawyer turned up with a statement which contained new evidence over the tussle with the coppers, basically saying "There was no tussle with the coppers", despite a large amount of video and photographic evidence to the contrary.

His lawyers were given instructions to provide certain evidence for the next hearing, the oddest being for them to provide the British Home Office with a DVD recording of the motion picture 'Starsky & Hutch', in which Snoop appeared as Huggy Bear, a murderous, drug-fuelled pimp with a sense of humour.