I think we can infer that McColl found pop music to be a form of musical imperialism, although he may never have stated this publicly.

Pop music, whether Dylan or the Beatles is a form of musical marketing and their popularity tends to eclipse other forms of music on a mass public level. This is true with pop music in general. To declare any form of pop music as traditional folk music is specious.

That doesn't make it bad, it just makes it different.

Ewan may have declared himself a communist with a small c which is quite different than the Stalin model in the Soviet Union. I have heard him admire Castro in Cuba and from what I know of Cuba, things are not terrible there which makes the US policy toward Cuba somewhat ridiculous.

Having known Peggy for many years and Ewan casually as a result, I can see why in his way of thinking that Dylan would represent in his mind a misrepresentation of what traditional folk music is.

I see Dylan as a pop star and there is nothing wrong with this provided he doesn't become representative of traditional folk music or folk singers.

I see Dylan and the Beatles as a form of music cult and as a result, a non-objective critical appraisal of their output is considered by some to be sacrilegious.

I don't think this is true for traditional folk music because some of it is very good and some not so. Here, it is necessary to define terms. Good in what way? Etc.

To say that Ewan appreciated Dylan in his role as a folk singer doesn't make sense.