Inevitably, various groups are up in arms at this display of censorship, calling it political correctness gone mad and everything else you'd probably expect it to. However, the real outrage isn't that Radio 1 has censored the word 'faggot' from Fairytale Of New York, or that it's even playing a song that originally contained the word 'faggot' – no, the real outrage is that Radio 1 is playing a song that's about three times older than its average listener in the first place.

BBC Radio 1’s decision to silence the word 'faggot' from Fairytale Of New York was criticised by Kirsty MacColl's mother on Radio 5 Live this morning, on the grounds that the song is about two characters speaking in a dialect true to themselves. She said:

"These are a couple of characters. Today we have a lot of a gratuitous vulgarity and whatever from people all over which I think is quite unnecessary. These are characters and they speak like that."

Radio 1 released a statement defending the decision:

“Radio 1 are playing an edited version of the Fairytale of New York that does not include the world 'faggot' as this is a word that members of our audience would find offensive."

The song was first released in 1987, and is now as synonymous with Christmas time as mince pies, intense family feuds and merry old St. Nick himself. A spokesperson for McGowan’s band The Pogues commented:

"It strikes me as very odd and I'm sure the band will be very amused."

Whatever the reason for the ban, though, censoring the song's 'faggot' line seems to us like a pretty futile attempt on Radio 1’s part because everyone knows what the missing word is anyway. The silence at the end of "You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy…” makes the word stand out stronger in its absence, like when the wedding reception DJ turns down the volume after "It’s fun to stay at the…” everyone knows to scream out "YMCA!”

And even if they don't know the censored word, the only two words that rhyme with 'maggot' are 'faggot' and 'cagot' and we don't think Kirsty MacColl would ever dream of calling Shane McGowan a member of the race inhabiting the valleys of the Pyrenees who until 1793 were political and social outcasts for supposedly being remnants of the Visigoths.

What's our view on the matter? We don't have one. We're waiting for the remixed duet between Isaiah Washington and Jerry Lewis to come out. 

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BBC bans lyrics in song – Mirror