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Hysteria: Punk rock plus Indian appearance equals threat to the United Kingdom

What’s all this, then?

Via Alex at Martini Republic, we learn that British upper lips aren’t any stiffer than ours when it comes to hysterical overreaction (as MR is lamentably no more, the link is defunct):

British anti-terrorism detectives escorted a man from a plane after a taxi driver had earlier become suspicious when he started singing along to a track by punk band The Clash, police said Wednesday.

Detectives halted the London-bound flight at Durham Tees Valley Airport in northern England and Harraj Mann, 24, was taken off.

The taxi driver had become worried on the way to the airport because Mann had been singing along to The Clash’s 1979 anthem “London Calling,” which features the lyrics “Now war is declared — and battle come down” while other lines warn of a “meltdown expected.”

Mann told British newspapers the taxi had been fitted with a music system which allowed him to plug in his MP3 player and he had been playing The Clash, Procol Harum, Led Zeppelin and the Beatles to the driver.

Had this passenger’s name been Frank Smith rather than Harraj Mann…well, it’s hardly worth the speculation (subscription required).

“I am 100 per cent British and have lived in Hartlepool for 22 years,” said Mr Mann.

“I’m Asian, but I’m the most non-Indian person I know. Sometimes I forget that I look Indian. I do everything that every other Hartlepool person does. I had a bacon sandwich this morning.

“It was very embarrassing and I thought it was preposterous.”

Still, it’s all probable cause for Britain’s finest.

A spokesman for Durham Police said: “Safety is paramount and we respond to concerns from members of the public in the way they would expect us to. In this case, the report was made with the best of intentions and we would not want to discourage people from contacting us with genuine concerns.”

What’s that they say about good intentions?

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