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The Pogues are in the running again to claim the Christmas No.1 spot with Fairytale Of New York for the first time since 1987.

Just days after the festive classic was at the centre of a censorship debate, bets are now on that Shane MacGowan’s hit will take the top spot again.

But, according to bookmaker Ladbrokes, it has tough competition from Ariana Grande who has slashed the odds on the singer being this year’s Christmas No.1 to 1/2 from 5/6 following further support yesterday morning.

The popstar’s closest rival is US breakthrough act Ava Max with Sweet But Psycho at odds of 6/1, while X Factor winner Dalton Harris is 10/1.

Out of the Christmas classics, Mariah Carey is 16/1 to top the charts, but Ladbrokes witnessed some support for The Pogues to return to the number one spot with Fairytale Of New York for the first time since 1987 at odds of 18/1.

Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: “Ariana Grande looks nailed on to top the charts at odds of 1/2.

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“Some punters were hoping Fairytale Of New York would challenge for the top spot after recent controversy, but we’re not convinced Ariana can be topped.”

Fans of the tune have been campaigning online to get Fairytale Of New York to the top spot again in response to last week’s debate about getting it censored on air.

In the song, Kirsty MacColl sings the lines: “You scumbag, you maggot/ You cheap lousy faggot/ Happy Christmas, your arse/ I pray God it’s our last,” and last week 2FM DJ Eoghan McDermott took to Twitter to express his discomfort with the lyrics.

He wrote: “I asked the two gay members of my team how they feel, since faggot is their N word. If people want to slur the gay community, this is their most powerful weapon. One favours censoring, the other outright not playing it. Neither like it. Simples.”

Newlywed MacGowan, 60, issued a statement to Virgin Media’s The Tonight Show addressing the lyrics.

(Image: Youtube)

“The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character. She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person,” he said.

“She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history and she is down on her luck and desperate.”

“Her dialogue is as accurate as I could make it but she is not intended to offend! She is just supposed to be an authentic character and not all characters in songs and stories are angels or even decent and respectable, sometimes characters in songs and stories have to be evil or nasty in order to tell the story effectively,” the statement continued.

“If people don’t understand that I was trying to accurately portray the character as authentically as possible then I am absolutely fine with them bleeping the word but I don’t want to get into an argument.”