OK Richard, you seem to have lost your sense of humour where this is concerned and it's easy to see how a comment like the one quoted, in isolation, can be percieved as mildly amusing to me, when in the context of whatever else was said, may cause offence to others.
I'm not going to fall out with you about it and nor should you fall out with Al because he feels differently about English folk music than you'd like him to.
We're a mixture of types with some common ground between us, but it would be dull if we all held the same views.
Cheers
C-flat