The radio station will instead play an edited version of the song with different lyrics

It's that time of year again - the annual debate about the merits of 'Fairytale of New York' and whether or not it should be banned for its use of a certain word.

There are those who say that the song should be left as is, while noting the offensive nature of its homophobic slur; then there are others who say that it should be banned outright.

Last year, even Shane MacGowan himself joined the debate, saying that he was perfectly fine with the word 'f*ggot' being bleeped from the song and that he used the word when writing the song to capture the rotten essence of the character.

"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," he said in a statement, "but I don’t want to get into an argument."

Now, however, BBC Radio 1 - one of the UK's biggest stations - have said that they're not going to play the original version of the song this year, because of its potential to offend people who were 'sensitive to derogatory terms for gender and sexuality.'

Instead, they'll play an edited version that sees Kirsty MacColl sing different lyrics - 'You scumbag, you maggot, you're cheap and you're haggard'. The original version will still be played on other BBC Radio stations.

"We know the song is considered a Christmas classic and we will continue to play it this year, with our radio stations choosing the version of the song most relevant for their audience," said a BBC spokesperson.

The Pogues themselves have not commented on the latest update to the saga, only to reply to actor Laurence Fox with a rather satisfying rebuke:

Hear the edited version below: