Stephen Green, national director of Christian Voice, whose protests against the play Corpus Christi in St Andrews prompted editor Jo Kerr’s editorial, said today, “The student newspaper had articles running us down as fundamentalists just because we objected to a play which insulted our God and our beliefs. I saw Corpus Christi and found it fuelled by ignorance and religious hatred.

“The irony is, they call us intolerant for criticising the play as homosexual propaganda, then they go on a bigoted racist rampage of their own.”

Jo Kerr wrote in her column, “At first it all sounded like something out of a Monty Python sketch, participants in a comedy portraying Jesus as a gay son of an alcholic are attacked by a not so merry band of fundamentalist Christians from Wales. It’s almost beyond belief (apart from the fact that I have secretly suspected the Welsh of evil doings ever since they spawned the caterwauling Charlotte Church.)”

She then went on to make controversial comments about the elderly in Wales.

She wrote, “It has to be said that if Judas on Jesus had been shown on Brookside in the early 90s it would have pulled audiences of over 10 million and had grannies writing in from all over Wales with their blue rinses in a twist.”

Finally, Miss Kerr “insulted” a Welsh band and the Welsh national emblem.

“I could always join the Welsh Christians on their quest for the Holy Grail — complete with Manic Street Preachers and their lucky leeks, of course,” she wrote.

Mr Green, who lives in Carmarthen in south-west Wales, said, “It is probably no surprise that people who think nothing of insulting the religious beliefs of others are quick to offer racial insults as well.

“Jo Kerr shows a complete disregard for the sensitivities of others and displays a lack of respect for race and religion, which I am glad the student union has acted upon.

“Do students at St Andrews have nothing better to do than go around insulting other people’s race and their religion?

“I feel offended by her remarks, and I’m not even Welsh. As for our protests against Corpus Christi, Christians from England, Wales and Northern Ireland joined their Scottish brethren in a peaceful, united stand against this blasphemous, hate-filled production.

“When Jo Kerr starts her diversity awareness training in the new year, I just hope and pray that a module on respect for the religious beliefs of others will form part of it.”

The Students’ Association, which rents offices to the newspaper, decided to evict its staff after an anonymous complaint of discrimination was investigated and upheld.

It has emerged that a hearing, chaired by a senior university official, was held on Friday and a “common sense compromise” was reached whereby Miss Kerr will have to undergo diversity awareness training before the association will allow staff back into their offices.

The decision is believed to have shocked many students and staff, who feel it is contrary to the enlightened thinking for which the university has been renowned.

The university says it supports an independent student newspaper — providing it is run on sound journalistic principles.