Freedom of Speech? Not on the Tube.

A man was fined £80, abused by the police and nearly arrested for telling a friend that the metal detectors installed at Underground stations to prevent terrorist attacks were not up to the job and phrased it in good old Anglo-Saxon terms (quote sanitised).

My friend Phil and I were going through a metal detector on the way out of Highbury & Islington tube on Friday evening around 8.30pm, on our way to a gig. Phil, who has a degree in physics, said to me in a low voice that the metal detector was a "piece of s*** that wouldn't stop anyone". Obviously, someone was listening, as all of a sudden, half a dozen policemen jumped on him and hustled him over to the corner of the tube station, where he was detained for about 20 minutes for the grave crime of swearing in public, and fined £80 for the privilege. For swearing! On the tube! If it's such a crime, then I owe them about a million pounds, as swearing on and at the tube is the only way to deal with the pain of having to travel on the dratted thing every day.

The money quote is here:

I got really upset and started crying through rage, frustration and fear. I also asked them very politely if this was the UK or the People's Republic of China. They then told me I was very close to being arrested, too.

This is a classic example of how not to fight this war. It catches no Jihadists and it gives the police licence to bully ordinary citizens.

It must stop.

Tip o' the hat to BoingBoing.