Arabs are the new Irish

The tabloid portion of the British media is very worked up about the BBC sanctions against talk show host Robert Kilroy-Silk for some unflattering remarks he made about Arabs. But Mr Kilroy-Silk has been in this territory before. Specifically:

In 1992 he sparked fury with his comments about the Irish in the pages of the Daily Express.
He described EC Commissioner Ray MacSharry as a "redundant second-rate politician from a country peopled by peasants, priests and pixies."

He did at least go one better on the usual "some of my best friends" routine by claiming that he's Irish himself. Or rather, his Daily Express editor did:

[Express editor Nicholas Lloyd] Kilroy himself is by background and family Irish. His mother is Irish, most of his family are Irish.

We don't anticipate a similar defence over the Arab comments.