MPs are demanding an apology over remarks made by the outspoken historian Dr David Starkey. Dr Starkey described Scotland as a "feeble little country" and said Robert Burns was a "deeply boring provincial poet." He made the comments on the BBC's Question Time programme after he was asked if he supported a public holiday for St George's Day.
Dr Starkey has refused to apologise and says he stands by his comments.
Dr Starkey has refused to apologise and says he stands by his comments.
To boos from the audience, Dr Starkey said: "If we decide to go down this route of having an English national day, that means we become a feeble little country, just like the Scots and the Welsh and the Irish. "Once upon a time England was a great country. Remember we're distinguished by the fact that we don't have national dress.
"We don't make a great fuss about Shakespeare like the Scots do about that deeply boring provincial poet Burns."
He said England did not have national music "like the awful bagpipes"
From the BBC News Website
Now Dr Starkey is not an unintelligent man. But he's not very smart. Clearly sales of his numerous books and tickets for his after-dinner speeches are plummeting, possibly because people are beginning to forget who he is. So, Dr Starkey thinks to himself, how to remedy this? Aha! I'll wangle an invitation on to BBC Radio Five Live and criticise the Scots (as he did last Sunday) and do likewise on national television via BBC Question Time. I'll think of something outrageous to say - yes, call Scotland a feeble little country and slag off Robert Burns. That should do the trick. This will cause so much controversy people will rush out in their thousands to buy my books and flock to my after-dinner speeches.
Sadly for Dr Starkey the finger of ridicule he pointed at Scotland and Wales has now turned on himself. Had he made these comments about Pakistan, Iran or Israel there would have been widespread condemnation of the BBC for allowing such extremist views to be broadcast on national television. But most Scots, I suspect, will view Dr Starkey in the same way as something we've trodden on.
Which is equivalent to the prose in his books...
