It's not just snobby critics picking on Dido these days – a member of parliament has now condemned the singer. Gregory Campbell, MP for East Londonderry, criticised Dido's new album, Safe Trip Home, for borrowing lyrics from an Irish republican song.

The words appear in the song Let's Do the Things We Normally Do, co-written by Dido and producer Jon Brion. "Armoured cars and tanks and guns," she sings, "came to take away our sons / But every man must stand behind / the men behind the wire."

These lyrics will be familiar to anyone who knows The Men Behind the Wire, written by the Northern Irish band Barleycorn. The original rebel ballad describes raids by British soldiers, and the "men behind the wire" are those nationalists held at Long Kesh prison.

"Given her Irish roots, it is inconceivable that she doesn't know the background of the wording," Campbell declared last week. Dido's late father, William O'Malley Armstrong, was an Irish publisher.

"She must know it was written about people who were murderers, arsonists and terrorists," Campbell continued. "She should clarify her position so that her fans and the wider public knows where she stands on these things."

Besides being an MP, Gregory Campbell is also a member of the Northern Irish Assembly, serving as minister for sports, arts and leisure. He is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party.