Bollox Britain

Salford City Council has decided not to continue with the banning of public speech it considers to be foul and abusive language. The banning of speech in Salford Quays was enabled through a 'Public Spaces Protection Order'.

The order was set up three years ago but will not now be renewed. It is understood the decision was made following discussions with residents and workers in the area, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Those who breached the censorship rules by swearing in public spaces could be issued with an on-the-spot fine of up to £1,000.However, no-one was ever fined for swearing in Salford Quays.

MarkThomas, who has protested the ban, reacted to the news by swearing when contacted by the BBC. He described the ban as

the most insane piece of censorship. Public Spaces Protection Orders enabled councils to bring in draconian legislation and outlaw types of activities and behaviour that were previously legal.

The BBC no longer wants TV shows in which white, middle-aged men stand up and explain things, according to one of the corporation's senior executives.

Programmes that feature individual presenters imparting their knowledge of a subject to viewers are too static and no longer excite audiences, Cassian Harrison, editor of BBC Four, told the Edinburgh Television Festival yesterday

He said controllers of other channels, including BBC Two, had also taken against the outdated presenting format. There's a mode of programming that involves a presenter, usually white, middle-aged and male, standing on a hill and 'telling you like it is'. We all recognise the era of that has passed.

One of the country's most senior judges yesterday told police to stop calling those who report rape or sexual assaults victims.

No one in a sex case is a victim until the crime has been proved by a guilty plea or a guilty verdict, Lord Justice Gross said.

In a powerful rebuke to police chiefs, the Appeal judge said there should be a change of culture in police forces to ensure that allegations are properly investigated and that those who make accusations are not automatically believed.

The criticism of police for failing to deal properly with sex cases, delivered in a speech to criminal lawyers, amounts to a demand from the judiciary to an end to the ideology of victimhood.