IT was an English political magazine's idea of satire.
But a poem which brands Scots as ''tartan dwarves'' and calls for the refortification of Hadrian's Wall provoked anger among those working to promote racial equality.
The poem, published in The Spectator, which is edited by Boris Johnson, shadow culture minister and Tory MP for Henley, chastises Scots for ''polluting our stock, undermining our economy'' and says ''the nation deserves not merely isolation but comprehensive extermination''.
Written by James Michie, Friendly Fire also calls the ''Scotch'' a ''verminous race''.
Michie, a staff writer for the London-based title and an esteemed editor and translator of poetry, was unavailable to comment on the piece last night.
However, Maureen Fraser, director of the Commission for Racial Equality in Scotland, said Michie's use of language was a step too far, even if the poem was intended as satire.
She said: ''We find this poem very offensive and the language is deeply inflammatory. It does nothing to promote race relations and undermines relations between Scotland and the rest of Britain, and our relationship with other countries.''
''Some of the language, such as 'comprehensive extermination' and 'polluting our stock', is completely and utterly
unacceptable. It cannot be
tolerated.''
On The Spectator's website, the ideological focus of the magazine is made clear.
''The Spectator's taste for controversy . . . remains undiminished,'' it states. ''There
is no party line to which our
writers are bound - originality of thought and elegance of expression are the sole
editorial constraints.''
JAMES MICHIE's FRIENDLY FIRE
The Scotch - what a verminous race!
Canny, pushy, chippy, they're all over the place,
Battening off us with false bonhomie,
Polluting our stock,
undermining our economy.
Down with sandy hair and knobbly knees!
Suppress the tartan dwarves and the Wee Frees!
Ban the kilt, the skean-dhu and the sporran
As provocatively, offensively foreign!
It's time Hadrian's Wall was refortified
To pen them in a ghetto on the other side.
I would go further. The nation
Deserves not merely
isolation
But comprehensive
extermination.
We must not flinch from a solution.
(I await legal prosecution.)
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