Faggot fiasco undermines Cranford

CRANFORD, which kept us entranced on Sunday evenings for the past weeks was what the BBC should be all about. An adaptation of three Elizabeth Gaskill novels set in a mythical Cheshire community, based on her own experiences of Knutsford to the south of Manchester.

The cast was stella, the acting tremendous, and the photography superb. At last, I began to think that the BBC was getting over its pandering to political correctness. After all, what could be more White Anglo-Saxon Protestant than a Victorian saga of gentility in the countryside.

How wrong I was. All that good work has been undone by Radio 1, which is bleeping out the word "faggot" from the reissue of The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl hit Fairytale of New York.

The offending line - which has been broadcast by the BBC for the past 20 years - is  "You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap, lousy faggot.''

I admit its not very Christmasy, but let's get real. Just listen to rap music with copious references to women as bitches, the elimination of gays, and raunchy sex - its 100 times worse than dear old Fairytale.

A Radio 1 spokesman said rather pompously: "We are playing an edited version. It is a word members of our audience would find offensive.''

Homophobic? I don't think so.

UPDATE: Radio 1 has bowed to pressure and will let the proper version of Fairytale be played on the network. I won't congratulate the Corporation for the change of heart because it's beyond belief that it should have been banned in the first.