Historian David Starkey denounced over ‘Hitler’ jibe at Alex Salmond

HISTORIAN David Starkey has been accused of “offensive nonsense”, after comparing Alex Salmond to Adolf Hitler, in a bizarre rant against the First Minister.

The controversial academic also argued that, for the SNP leader, “the English, like the Jews, are everywhere”.

“If you think about it, Alex Salmond is a democratic Caledonian Hitler, although some would say Hitler was more democratically elected,” Starkey said during a debate in London earlier this week.

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The comments drew unanimous derision from SNP, Labour and Tory figures in Scotland.

An SNP 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 a great number of 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.”

Starkey was speaking at a debate, hosted by the Bow Group think tank, on the teaching of British history in UK schools.

He said it was “absurd” that England did not focus on its own history in schools. “English national identity is too important to be left to the loons of the BNP and the EDL [English Defence League]” he said.

Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser tweeted: “Would someone please tell David Starkey to keep his trap shut?”

Labour MSP Paul Martin said: “I would no sooner ask his advice on matters of state than I would my cat on matters of dentistry.”

Bow Group council member Nic Conner, who attended the event, confirmed Starkey’s comments, although he said they had been taken out of context.

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He said: “Dr Starkey began by questioning some of the myths surrounding Alex Salmond: the political myth that he is one of the greatest political leaders of our time when what he has done is all a trick, tapping into nationalism and the idea of a common enemy, in this case the English.He then compared this, somewhat unfortunately, to Hitler.”

Mr Conner said it was a “balanced meeting” with speeches by Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty, and Tory MP Kwasi Kwarteng.

The Bow Group exists to develop policy, publish research and stimulate debate within the Conservative Party.

Its events are publicised, although a spokesman said they were normally held under the “Chatham House Rule”, where discussions are confidential to encourage openness and debate.However, the spokesman said this was becoming increasingly redundant in the age of Twitter and social networking.

Starkey’s comments are just the latest in a long line of attacks on Scotland and Scottish identity. In 2009, he used an appearance on the BBC Question Time programme to argue that Scotland was a “feeble little country”.

Arguing against a “national” day in England, he went on: “We don’t make a great fuss about Shakespeare like the Scots do about that deeply boring provincial poet Burns.

“What the Scots and Welsh are, are typical small nations with a romantic, 19th-century-style nationalism.”

He has also accused the Scots of “wallowing in failure”, saying: “They even have special music for failure – it’s called bagpipes.”

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Starkey caused controversy during last year’s English riots when he said a section of white society “have become black”, adding “a particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic gangster culture has become the fashion”.

In January, Labour MP Tom Harris stepped down from his role as the party’s social media adviser in Scotland after he created an online video portraying Mr Salmond as Hitler.

The following month, Mr Salmond faced criticism for using a term linked to officials in Nazi Germany to describe a BBC adviser who withdrew his invitation to comment on a rugby match.

Mr Salmond insisted the word “gauleiter” was common parlance for “an overbearing wielder of petty authority”.