Pauline Howe, 67, wrote a letter to Norwich Council objecting to a local gay pride march. She used the word “sodomites” and objected to “perverted sexual practices”.  A tad old fashioned, something you would perhaps be embarrassed by if your aunt blurted it out at Christmas.

Subsequently two police officers turned up on her doorstep to warn her that she had committed a “hate crime”.  Guardianistas cheer on the police.

The comic Jimmy Carr told an audience of 2,500 at the Manchester Apollo: “Say what you like about servicemen amputees from Iraq and Afghanistan, but we’re going to have a f*****g good paralympic team in 2012.” Daily Mail leader writers are outraged.

Get a grip. There is no right to not be offended.

If somebody offends you in your own house, you can throw them out.  if somebody offends you in a public space, without inciting violence or defaming you, tough.  Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words should not be legislated.

It may be ill-mannered, it may be vulgar and offensive, but it should not be illegal. People going to a Jimmy Carr show can’t expect not to wince and laugh, venturing into the comments on this blog is not for the thin-skinned either. People need to grow up and keep a sense of proportion, or else life could get very boring and sterile. You don’t want to end up like Sunny Hundal, a man so right-on as to be a walking parody. Once in a fit of rage, yet so conflicted by political correctness, all he could do was call Guido “you bloody human!”