The UK government has turned down Snoop Dogg's offer to promote a message of non-violence to children and to donate to an anti-violence charity if they grant him a visa to perform in the UK. As such, the rapper's shows, which were booked to take place across the UK from tonight until Friday, have had to be cancelled.

In an interview with MTV, the angry hip-hop star has this to say:

"They knew I was coming six, seven weeks ago, so they could have denied me access then. I cannot control my past - me being an ex-gnag member, ex-drug dealer - but I know how to do what's right, how to turn my life around"

Perhaps Snoop is forgetting about his more recent scuffles with the law - a caution received by UK police for suspicion of violent disorder at Heathrow airport last year, his arrest in Sweden last month for suspicion of taking drugs (what, Snoop on drugs? Who'd have thought it?) and three separate ongoing court cases in the USA on weapons and drug charges. It seems that the UK visa people are just as strict with millionaire gun-toting, drug-smokers as they are with the poor ones.

The tour, which is co-headlined by P.Diddy, re-starts in Dublin on Saturday.