''Friendly Fire'' is a satirical poem by James Michie, published in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' magazine in 2004. In it, the

speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

of the poem expresses a hatred of

Scottish people Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the Scotland in the Early Middle Ages, early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who f ...

and advocates their extermination. As a result, the poem has been the subject of controversy, especially regarding

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

, who, as editor of ''The Spectator'' at the time, approved its publication.

Criticism

Upon the initial publication of the poem in 2004, Maureen Fraser, then director of the

Commission for Racial Equality In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

in Scotland, said:

We find this poem very offensive and the language is deeply inflammatory. It does nothing to promote race relations and undermines relations between Scotland and the rest of Britain, and our relationship with other countries. Some of the language, such as 'comprehensive extermination' and 'polluting our stock', is completely and utterly unacceptable. It cannot be tolerated.

In June 2019, the poem began circulating on the internet as a criticism of

for having anti-Scottish prejudice (with some incorrectly attributing Johnson as the author of the poem). In that month, the poem was raised in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

by the SNP leader at Westminster,

Ian Blackford Ian Blackford (born 14 May 1961) is a Scottish politician and investment banker who served as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2022. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and ...

Extract

"Down with sandy hair and knobbly knees!
Suppress the tartan dwarves and the Wee Frees!
Ban the kilt, the skean-dhu and the sporran
As provocatively, offensively foreign!"

References

{{reflist

External links

"Friendly Fire"
full text at '' The Herald'', 13 August 2004 2004 poems The Spectator Anti-Scottish sentiment