CONTROVERSIAL television pundit and historian David Starkey has raised a storm of protest after comparing Alex Salmond to Hitler.

Mr Starkey said the First Minister was a "democratic Caledonian Hitler, although some would say Hitler was more democratically elected".

He told a debate hosted by the centre-right think-tank the Bow Group on the teaching of British history in UK schools that, for Mr Salmond, "the English, like the Jews, are everywhere". Politicians in Scotland united to dismiss Mr Starkey as a crank, a man who earned his living through insulting others.

Mr Starkey, a regular guest on BBC programmes such as Newsnight, Question Time, Any Questions and The Moral Maze, has been dubbed the "rudest man in Britain" for his comments in recent years. Last year he was heavily criticised after saying "the whites have become black", when discussing the London riots.

Mr Salmond's spokesman said: "This offensive nonsense is actually an insult to Scotland and to the people of Scotland.

"David Starkey is getting dafter and crankier with every passing day. His litany of offensive comments are designed only to provoke outrage and thankfully England is blessed with far better historians than him.

"We can count ourselves lucky that David Starkey is nowhere near the teaching of history in Scottish schools. In the words of Robert Burns, Scots will 'look and laugh' at this nonsense."

He added: "The Bow Group exists to stimulate debate within the Conservative Party, so I suppose you could say this has stimulated debate.

"David Starkey has a track record of making unacceptable comments.

"These comments say far more about him than they say about anything or anyone else. They say nothing good about him."

Labour business manager Paul Martin said the comments were uncalled-for and had no place in any political discourse.

He added: "These are just the latest in a series of wayward ramblings from David Starkey.

"I would no sooner ask his advice on matters of state than I would my cat on matters of dentistry."

Tory deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: "This is a man who makes his

living by making insults and building up his own notoriety. Every time he opens his mouth he causes offence to someone."

LibDem leader Willie Rennie said: "If this is the sort of trash he is going to serve up, then broadcasters in particular should make sure they don't put him on any TV programmes from now on.

"He can't be taken seriously as any sort of academic."

Green Party co-convener Patrick Harvie said the comments were "infantile" and "among the most absurd I've ever heard, and I've sat through his Question Time performances".

In January, Labour MP Tom Harris stepped down as the party's social media adviser in Scotland after he created an online video portraying Mr Salmond as Hitler.

That same month, the BBC received more 150 complaints after Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman compared Mr Salmond to Robert Mugabe.

Mr Salmond faced criticism for using the term "Gauleiter", linked to Nazi officials, to describe a BBC adviser who withdrew his invitation to comment on a rugby match.

The BBC last night declined to comment on the latest row.