'Fairytale of New York' censored by the BBC

Christmas mainstay Fairytale of New York will be censored by the BBC this year because it fears sensitive listeners will be offended by some of the lyrics.

Radio 1 will replace the word “faggot” as sung by the late Kirsty MacColl with the word haggard, while Pogues’ frontman Shane MacGowan’s use of the word “slut” will be muted outright.

Radio 1 fears “young listeners [are] particularly sensitive to derogatory terms for gender and sexuality”, according to BBC News report on the song’s censorship.

Radio 6 Music, meanwhile, is shifting the burden of decision onto individual DJs in determining which version of the song to use.

MacGowan has previously defended the use of an anti-gay slur in his song, however, explaining in 2017 that “the word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character.”

The Irish-English singer added that “She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person. She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history and she is down on her luck and desperate.”