HMV forced to take down 'Anyone But England' World Cup display after racism complaints



HMV have withdrawn 'Anyone But England' banners from its Scottish stores after complaints to police that they were inciting racial hatred.

The high street chain put up large window displays and stocked T-shirts featuring the slogan 'ABE' in the run-up to the World Cup.

However, they were besieged by calls from angry members of the public and the Campaign for an English Parliament (CEP) made a complaint to police in Fife that the company were inciting racial hatred.



An officer from Fife Constabulary visited an HMV store in former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's constituency of Kirkcaldy earlier this week and bosses quickly agreed to remove the banners from all their stores north of the border.



Offending article: The Anyone But England T-shirt currently on sale in Scottish HMV stores. The high street chain has received complaints

Yesterday, HMV said they were no longer 'actively promoting' the 'ABE' stock through banners and displays but said it would continue to sell a limited number of T-shirts.

Stuart Parr, a National Council member for the CEP, said: 'The Campaign for an English Parliament will challenge any company that incites racial hatred towards the English.

'Racism is unacceptable no matter who it is directed against, including English people.

Mr Parr said HMV's decision to stock the ABE shirts and make window displays during the World Cup was 'criminally irresponsible'



Police visit: Officers went to an HMV store in Kircaldy and asked the staff to remove an ABE window display after it was accused of inciting racial hatred

He added: 'There has been a lot of attacks on English people in Scotland during previous football tournaments and anti-English racism remains a problem.

'There is enough tension around the World Cup without a big national company like HMV stirring it up.'

But police have been accused of an overreacting to the complaints.



Tam Ferry, a spokesman for the Association of Tartan Army Clubs, said: 'This is just political correctness gone mad again.



He started it: When asked at a press conference who he would be supporting in the 2006 World Cup, tennis star Andy Murray replied 'Anyone but England'

'I have got one of the T-shirts and I think it's great that HMV were putting up banners.



'Football is all about rivalry and having a bit of banter. Have the police got nothing better to do than take away a bit of fun from people?



'There's bigger problems in this country that they should be dealing with rather than this.'

Trevor Phillips, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has described the slogan as 'good-natured banter that was unlikely to cause offence'.

The T-shirts had already been the subject of police action after officers from Grampian visited Slanj, an Aberdeen-based kilt-maker, in February pointing out they were potentially racist.



The company was asked to remove the garments from its windows because of their 'potential to cause disturbance'.

The term 'Anyone but England' was coined by Andy Murray, the Scottish tennis player, when he was asked at a press conference who he would be supporting in the 2006 World Cup.



His quip provoked a backlash among English fans and he later apologised, claiming he had been joking.



An HMV spokesman said: 'If we thought the shirts were in any way racist then we certainly wouldn't have stocked them.



'In our view the shirts are not against England or the English, but are simply about some Scottish fans expressing a view that they want any team other than England to win this year's World Cup.

'It's not a sentiment we agree with, but surely a football fan has a right to express such a view if they choose to - this is about the World Cup and should not be turned into a race issue.'

A spokeswoman for Fife Constabulary said: 'We received a complaint on Monday June 14 regarding the Anyone But England banners.

'An officer attended the HMV store in Kirkcaldy and spoke to the manager there to make him aware of the complaint and to give advice.

'Ultimately it was HMV's decision to remove the banners.'