When I was a child I was taught this rhyme.

Sticks and Stones may break my bones
But names will never hurt me

There was playground bullying. A lot of it.

When my boys were young they were bullied: for their school was majority Muslim with a Somali minority, and they were mixed race and the wrong religion. I taught them the same rhyme.

It seems to have been dropped down the memory hole in the UK.

Recognising the “corrosive effect” of hate crime on British society, Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, announced the CPS will now revise prosecutions of such crimes “with the same robust and proactive approach used with offline offending”.

The changes could lead to a dramatic increase in those being prosecuted for posting prejudice attacks on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Jenny Wiltshire, the head of general crime at Hickman and Rose solicitors, told The Independent the change in policy from the CPS reflects “the fact that the internet has become a breeding ground for misogynist, racist and homophobic views”.

She continued: “The decision to treat offences committed online no differently from offline offences will undoubtedly lead to an increase in prosecutions. It will also remind the trolling brigade that there are real consequences for hitting the button”.

According to the CPS the policy statements have been updated to take into account the mounting number of cases sparked by abuse on social media and covers all the different strand of hate crime, including religious and racist, disability, homophobic, biphobic and transphobic.

They added that between 2015-16, prosecutors completed 15,442 hate crime cases – the highest number ever recorded.

We don’t have hate crimes in New Zealand. We have crimes. There are those who want to restrict free speech. Who want that which they do not like banned. They want a new set of blasphemy laws. I preferred the old ones: Christians have a sense of humour the CPS lacks.

I prefer Sarcasm.

What I have found works, is that when confronted by “You’re a racist!”, answer “I’m also a sexist” or something similar. The effect on your opponent is like sticking a pin in an inner tube: a small pop! followed by a hissing withering deflation, leaving only a formless, flaccid pile of rubber.

Racist! is supposed to be devastating, a miniature thermonuclear psychic grenade. The unfortunate hit with it is meant to freeze, consider deeply his crime, and then issue a stream of protestations and apologies.

Start apologizing for imaginary crimes and you’ll never stop.

What has happened is this. The appeal to the amenable authorities is needed, because the accusation has lost its power. Since the progressive elite are divorced from reality, they are using force — guidelines written by very politically correct trolls in institutions such as the crown prosecution service — to bring in their new blasphemy laws.

I would rather have hate speech. Because I can laugh at such.

In the meantime, The mockery from those fortunate enough to not live in the UK is there. The only people defending this are known trolls.

The consequences are that the police are being held in contempt. The trust of the community is being eroded. As usual, the social justice wankers ruin what they touch. Hate speech was better than this.

The UK needs, again, to be free.