In the UK a man's home is his castle but his tongue belongs to the state

While everyone talks of the draconian police state that President Bush is foisting on the USA, including the Pope, let's have a look at what passes for freedom of speech in the UK.

The Daily Mail gives us the story of 75-year old Peter Willows a councillor (which I believe is the same as a city councilman) who had the audacity to...

The 75-year-old was asked by the editor of a gay magazine whether he thought a gay councillor was a paedophile, Brighton Magistrates' Court was told.
"James Ledward asked Willows, 'Do you think Paul's a paedophile?"' prosecutor David Packer said.
"Willows replied to that with, 'I know you are not Paul, it's the other gays'." The barrister said the words "equated gay people with paedophiles".

Apparently that is enough in the land of our ancestoral liberties to get a man hauled in front of a magistrate and charged with "using threatening, abusive or insulting works or behaviour or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress."
The stocks being full that day the septuagenarian veteran was merely "given a conditional discharge and told to pay £250 costs."