The Hour

Real Radio DJ Ewan Cameron was so incensed when he heard that the National Library of Scotland had banned an employee from displaying the Saltire flag, he decided to protest outside their offices.

The row erupted after a library worker was ordered to remove a number of blue-and-white flags and tartan from his desk.

Library officials said the display - which also included a Lion Rampant - was "inappropriate material" for the workplace and could be deemed “offensive” to non-Scottish employees, outlined in an email to the employee.

But they said a ban has never been in place against having a flag displayed in the workplace.

This even prompted an angry reaction from Christine Grahame, SNP MSP for South of Scotland, who said: “This is a completely unacceptable slur on Scotland's national flag."

Now the spat has got the nation talking, leading to STV’s The Hour to conduct a debate between Cameron and National Library spokeswoman Teri Wishart.

Cameron said: “I can understand if it’s over the top. You might say to the colleague, ‘do you want to tone it down a little bit?’ But to say it’s “offensive” and could “intimidate” non-Scottish colleagues I think is an embarrassment and a disgrace to the country.

"We went down to the National Library of Scotland and had a protest outside of the library along with a number of disgruntled Scotsmen. And they were all decked out in their Saltires and their Lion Rampants and they were extremely upset and disappointed at what had been happening.”

However Wishart hit back and said that it has all been blown out of proportion as the email was taken out of context.

She said: “The offensive word was used in relation to a calendar of semi-clad individuals and it’s being used in connection to the Saltire.”

Meanwhile the First Minister Alex Salmond has stepped in by organising a meeting with the National Library chief executive Martin Wade, where Wade agreed the Saltire would be permitted.

Salmond's spokesman said: "The First Minister met the chief executive and the chairman and was given an absolute assurance a memo would be circulated to all staff making it clear they are permitted to display the Saltire at their work stations in an appropriate way."