As a political statement, the song was out of character for McCartney and attracted suspicion from contemporary reviewers. Some writers accused him of attempting to project a less wholesome image by aligning himself with British countercultural thinking, as a means of gaining credibility for his faltering career after the Beatles. Writing for Rough Guides in 2003, music critic Chris Ingham said of the Wings single: "The record managed to irritate everyone, not least for its naive, simplistic attitude to a complex situation … but also for its musical mediocrity. The BBC banned the record, granting it a notoriety disproportionate to its importance."