Essex Police are investigating claims that two pro-EU campaigners were pulled over on the M25 and told to remove a 'Bollocks to Brexit' sticker from their car. The incident occurred near Brentwood on Sunday afternoon, according to a video posted on Twitter by passenger Peter Cook.
In the footage, Mr Cook alleges that officers 'bullied' the campaigners into removing the slogan from their Mini Cooper. The campaign group Bollocks to Brexit stated on social media: 'Essex Police bullied us into removing “Bollocks” from our car ... I am calling the Police Complaints Commission.'
Mr Cook claimed that a police officer described the slogan as a 'public order offence' and that he felt 'totally unsafe' after being pulled over on a hard shoulder. Essex Police have not yet confirmed whether displaying such a sign constitutes a public order offence.
A police spokesperson said: 'We are trying to identify the officer from the video footage to establish the circumstances around what happened. In the meantime, we would encourage the driver to get in touch with us.' The Independent Office for Police Conduct did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This incident follows a similar case earlier this year when a passenger was detained at Gatwick Airport for wearing a 'Bollocks to Brexit' badge. He was released after about 10 minutes but reported the incident to the UK Border Force. Notably, in 1977, a court ruled that 'bollocks' was not obscene, after an expert witness testified that the word appeared in early versions of the Bible to mean 'testicles'.
