With any luck, this is one of those decisions that will be reversed after public outcry:

NOVELTY pig calendars and toys have been banned from a council office — in case they offend Muslim staff.

Workers in the benefits department at Dudley Council, West Midlands, were told to remove or cover up all pig-related items, including toys, porcelain figures, calendars and even a tissue box featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.

Bosses acted after a Muslim complained about pig-shaped stress relievers delivered to the council in the run-up to the Islamic festival of Ramadan.

More, including a good political cartoon, here.

I'd be very surprised if this particular rule stands, or is enforced for any length of time. If it is, it will be a very sad day when Good Saint Sensitivity has driven the dire threat of Piglet from out of England.

Of course, it wouldn't be the first sign that Albion is losing track of her identity a bit, even if it's recovering from the warm fuzziness of Blair's Cool Britannia. CNN International ran an article on prison wardens being rebuked for wearing charity pins with the Cross of St. George on them. I have no opinion on the report itself, as there may be good reasons why guards shouldn't wear these. But at the end of the article, Chris Doyle of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (whose website reads much as you'd expect) is quoted as saying:

Doyle added that it was now time for England to find a new flag and a patron saint who is "not associated with our bloody past and one we can all identify with."

(language altered to clean it up a bit)