You can't say that!

Apparently there is no constitutional guarantee of free speech here in Britain.  Actually I have no idea what their Constitution, or what passes for one, looks like or sounds like, but you can't call people names in public, especially racial or ethnic names. Queen PC is the actual ruler here.  There are two cases in point: one is on youtube, entitled My Tram Experience, in which a mother riding the train with a kid on her lap absolutely goes off in a rant on the present state of Britain; the other concerns a prominent football (soccer) player for Chelsea who allegedly used a derogatory racial comment toward an opposing player after a match.   Personally I'm not offended by anyone calling someone a nasty name; it's their problem and I don't feel I have to pass judgment.  After watching the youtube segment, it's clear to me that woman was very distressed and who knows what's going on in her life to trigger such emotion (of course the cynic could argue it was all a put up job to get her 15 minutes of fame on the Internet).  In any event, she's facing charges!  Of being obnoxious in public, I guess.  Curiously, there was no actual violence and no one got hurt. I mean, try that rant on the A train in Harlem and you'd be facing the coroner rather than the prosecutor!  The way I see it, no harm, no foul, but here apparently the State is responsible for protecting people from being offended.  The other case is even more of a hoot. Supposedly Chelsea's John Terry called QPR's Anton Ferdinand a f$*g black c$#t, but Ferdinand didn't even hear him - it was a vigilant member of John Q Public who "complained."  Of course John Q was a QPR fan! Hmm. So now Terry has to undergo a police inquiry!  Can you imagine such a thing after an NFL game? There's be a line outside the police station of players to be interviewed.  Some would call it civility here; I think it's a real negative of the nanny state.