buy lurpak to celebrate

While the Danish company Arla Foods is talking about laying off workers due to the international boycott of their products in protest against the cartoons published in a Danish newspaper, over here we've just passed a law banning incitement to religious hatred.

After yesterday's relief at the Commons votes, it's now time to realise that as of last night, we are less of a free society than we were the day before (and the day before that, for centuries). However, thankfully, the Lords amendments were accepted - amendments which were designed to tighten up the definition of the offence and add in some safeguards to freedom of expression.

This is definitely something to be heartened by. If the government had won, there's not the shadow of a doubt that people here would have been prosecuted for cartoons like the Danish ones - just because some Muslims could proclaim themselves offended by them. I already liked the Danes because they're roughly as eurosceptic as the UK is. I would buy Tulip bacon all the time given the chance. And now I have another politically charged item for my shopping basket: in support of Arla, butter from now on is going to be a choice of Anchor or Lurpak. (Which is great, cos we buy Anchor anyway. But still. Nice to have a reason for it now.)