MORRISSEY - JOURNALIST DEEMS MORRISSEY 'COWARDLY' IN IMMIGRATION ROW

LATEST: The journalist at the centre of the row over MORRISSEY'S controversial comments on immigration has hit back at the former THE SMITHS frontman - defiantly ridiculing his decision to take legal action. Writer Tim Jonze says Morrissey made "ignorant, racially inflammatory statements" in his interview for British music magazine NME, and it was ludicrous for his legal team to claim he had been "stitched up". In a statement posted on the Internet, Jonze blasts, "The 'I've been stitched up' card is the last bastion of someone who's said something offensive but is too scared to back this up, yet too stubborn to apologise. "How can Morrissey possibly claim a stitch-up when the interview is printed in Q+A form, his quotes are recorded on tape and he wasn't even asked about immigration in the first place? It's truly cowardly." The interview appeared in the NME on Wednesday (28Nov07). In it Morrissey, 48, was quoted apparently criticising current levels of immigration to Britain after being asked if he would ever consider moving back to the U.K. from Rome. This isn't the first time NME magazine has fallen foul of Morrissey - the publication previously angered the singer's camp in 1992 when they printed a picture of the star draped in a Union Jack flag along with the title: 'Flying The Flag Or Flirting With Disaster?'