Historian David Starkey calls Alex Salmond a "democratic Caledonian Hitler”, BBC get them on QT for Ian Hislop vs Mary Archer fight to the finish!

Dear All

You may have seen television pundit and historian David Starkey on the BBC; he regularly appears on Question Time to give us his views on the world.

I can’t say I like his opinions or the way he delivers them.

His most recent storm of his own making; was comparing Alex Salmond to Adolf Hitler.

This isn’t the first time that Alex Salmond has been compared to Hitler; Labour MP Tom Harris did a video called Joan’s Downfall.

The Downfall clip is widely used by people highlighting an issue to comic effect.

My personal favourite is ‘In the bunker after Glasgow East’ which featured the same clip with Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown as the butt of the joke.

If you haven’t seen it, then do so, it is absolutely hilarious.

Anyway back to Herr Starkey compared Alex Salmond to Hitler, the Historian wasn’t doing comedy; he was at the centre-right think-tank the Bow Group.

The Bow Group is an interesting wee bunch, a hothouse of Tory thinkers peddling ideas, they follow me on Twitter.

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

It was a badly judged and rather silly comment.

But rather than not put his foot in it, he dived in head first, at the Bow Group by saying that, for Mr Salmond, "the English, like the Jews, are everywhere".

Having a go at everyone, I wonder if he has a book or television show on the horizon!

Immediately politicians in Scotland united to dismiss Starkey for what he is, a crank; a man who earned his living through insulting others without the wit to carry it.

Starkey is a regular guest on BBC programmes such as Newsnight, Question Time, Any Questions and The Moral Maze and loves putting his oar in it regularly.

He is also dubbed the "rudest man in Britain" for his comments in recent years but we should remember others don’t get the same oxygen as Starkey.

Last year his infamous remark was to say "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."

Overly wordy!

When he could have said, ‘the guy’s a dick’ with a hunch of the shoulders.

Labour business manager Paul Martin also condemned Starkey.

He said:

"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."

Cat on matters of denistry!!!!!

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."

A bit like Carlaw when he was outed for racist jokes!

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".

This isn’t the first time that Alex Salmond has been compared to a dictator as I said previously Tom Harris waded in with his video, (which the content wasn’t particularly funny); Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman even compared Mr Salmond to Robert Mugabe.

In politics, you will always run across people who don’t like you.

Alex Salmond now knows David Starkey doesn’t like him.

I think I see a Ian Hislop vs Mary Archer moment on Question Time looming for Starkey and Salmond.

Mano-a-Mano.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University