Friendly Fire (poem)
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Friendly Fire (poem)
''Friendly Fire'' is a poem written by James Michie. The poem was published in ''The Spectator'' magazine in 2004. It called for the "extermination" of Scottish people, though it has been described as satirical. As a result, it has been the subject of controversy, especially regarding Boris Johnson, 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 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 Boris Johnson for ...
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James Michie
James Michie (24 June 1927 – 30 October 2007) was an English poet, translator and editor. Michie was born in Weybridge, Surrey, the son of a banker and the younger brother of Donald Michie, a researcher in artificial intelligence. The texts that Michie translated included ''The Odes of Horace'', ''The Art of Love'' by Ovid, ''The Poems of Catullus'', ''The Epigrams of Martial'' and selections from La Fontaine's and Aesop's fables. He was the editorial director of The Bodley Head, a British publishing company, and lecturer at London University. His ''Collected Poems'' won the 1995 Hawthornden Prize. Beginning in the 1970s, Michie devised and judged literary competitions for ''The Spectator'' under the pen-name of Jaspistos. He caused controversy in 2004 when his poem, "Friendly Fire," was published in ''The Spectator'' under then-editor Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who se ...
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The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The Daily Telegraph'' newspaper, via Press Holdings. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture. It is politically conservative. Alongside columns and features on current affairs, the magazine also contains arts pages on books, music, opera, film and TV reviews. Editorship of ''The Spectator'' has often been a step on the ladder to high office in the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. Past editors include Boris Johnson (1999–2005) and other former cabinet members Ian Gilmour (1954–1959), Iain Macleod (1963–1965), and Nigel Lawson (1966–1970). Since 2009, the magazine's editor has been journalist Fraser Nelson. ''The Spectator Australia'' offers 12 pages on Australian politics and affairs as well as the full UK maga ...
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Scottish People
The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ''Alba'') in the 9th century. In the following two centuries, the Celtic-speaking Cumbrians of Strathclyde and the Germanic-speaking Angles of north Northumbria became part of Scotland. In the High Middle Ages, during the 12th-century Davidian Revolution, small numbers of Norman nobles migrated to the Lowlands. In the 13th century, the Norse-Gaels of the Western Isles became part of Scotland, followed by the Norse of the Northern Isles in the 15th century. In modern usage, "Scottish people" or "Scots" refers to anyone whose linguistic, cultural, family ancestral or genetic origins are from Scotland. The Latin word ''Scoti'' originally referred to the Gaels, but came to describe all inhabitants of Scotland. Cons ...
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Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Foreign Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and as Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. Johnson has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015, having previously been MP for Henley from 2001 to 2008. Johnson attended Eton College, and studied Classics at Balliol College, Oxford. He was elected president of the Oxford Union in 1986. In 1989, he became the Brussels correspondent — and later political columnist — for ''The Daily Telegraph'', and from 1999 to 2005 was the editor of '' The Spectator''. Following his election to parliament in 2001 he was a shadow minister under Conservative leaders Michael Howard and David Cameron. In 2008, Johnson was elected mayor of London and resigned from the House of Common ...
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Commission For Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its functions were taken over by the newly created Equality and Human Rights Commission. History The Commission was established by the Race Relations Act 1976, under James Callaghan's Labour government. Its first Chairman was former Conservative MP, David Lane. It was formed through the amalgamation of the Race Relations Board and the Community Relations Commission. The Race Relations Act, which has now been superseded by the Equality Act 2010, applied in England, Wales and Scotland. It did not apply in Northern Ireland, where the Race Relations (NI) Order 1997 applies. The CRE's work covered all the areas where people were protected against discrimination under the Race Relations Act. The mission statement of the commission was: "We ...
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Anti-Scottish Prejudice
Anti-Scottish sentiment is disdain, discrimination, or hatred for Scotland, the Scots or Scottish culture. It may also include the persecution or oppression of the Scottish people as an ethnic group, or nation. It can also be referred to as Scotophobia or Albaphobia. See antonym Anglophobia. Middle Ages Much of the negative literature of the Middle Ages drew heavily on the writings from Greek and Roman antiquity. The writings of Ptolemy in particular dominated concepts of Scotland till the Late Middle Ages and drew on stereotypes perpetuating fictitious, as well as satirical accounts of the Kingdom of the Scots. The English Church and the propaganda of royal writs from 1337 to 1453 encouraged a barbarous image of the kingdom as it allied with England's enemy, the Kingdom of France, during the Hundred Years' War. Medieval authors seldom visited Scotland but called on such accounts as "''common knowledge''", influencing the works of Boece's "''Scotorum Historiae''" (Paris 15 ...
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House Of Commons Of The United Kingdom
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as members of Parliament (MPs). MPs are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved. The House of Commons of England started to evolve in the 13th and 14th centuries. In 1707 it became the House of Commons of Great Britain after the political union with Scotland, and from 1800 it also became the House of Commons for Ireland after the political union of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, the body became the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the independence of the Irish Free State. Under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, the Lords' power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power. The g ...
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Ian Blackford
Ian Blackford (born 14 May 1961) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber since 2015. Originally from Edinburgh, he previously worked as an investment banker and has been involved in various business ventures since. He was the national treasurer of the SNP from 1999 to 2000. Blackford became the SNP Westminster Leader after Angus Robertson lost his seat at the 2017 snap general election. During his tenure as leader of the SNP at Westminster, Blackford had a weekly slot at Prime Minister's Questions which he used to quiz Conservative Prime Ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak on the issues of the day. He stepped down from the role in December 2022 and was replaced by Stephen Flynn. Early life and career Early life Blackford was born in Edinburgh and educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh ...
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2004 Poems
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest composite number, its proper divisors being and . Four is the sum and product of two with itself: 2 + 2 = 4 = 2 x 2, the only number b such that a + a = b = a x a, which also makes four the smallest squared prime number p^. In Knuth's up-arrow notation, , and so forth, for any number of up arrows. By consequence, four is the only square one more than a prime number, specifically three. The sum of the first four prime numbers two + three + five + seven is the only sum of four consecutive prime numbers that yields an odd prime number, seventeen, which is the fourth super-prime. Four lies between the first proper pair of twin primes, three and five, which are the first two Fermat primes, like seventeen, which is the third. On the other ha ...
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