What if the boot was on the other foot?

THE Tory councillor who oversees London’s transport network has apologised for a heated dispute he had with a woman passenger on a commuter train.

Why? The row, on the 8.50 from Dartford, Kent, was caught on video by another passenger, after Keith Prince told the woman to take her feet off his seat.

It escalated quickly and the woman subjected him to a torrent of foulmouthed abuse and threatened to kick him in the groin. She took out her mobile phone, presumably to post the confrontation on social media, and said: ‘So I get on the train and this white idiot . . .’

When Mr Prince told her his wife was Nigerian, she replied: ‘Trust me, she doesn’t love you. I’m Nigerian, I know what women want.’

Fortunately, they cooled off and were laughing together by the time the train reached London. So what was Mr Prince apologising for? oK, so it was simply good manners. But he was in the right. If anyone was owed an apology, he was. I’m not suggesting this should have been taken any further — far from it.

But just imagine if the boot had been on the other foot, so to speak. What if he’d put his feet on the woman’s seat, threatened to assault her and called her a ‘black idiot’?

If she, or any other passenger, had claimed this was a ‘racist’ incident, you can bet your life the police would have become involved and Mr Prince would have found himself up in court charged with a ‘hate crime’.

His feet wouldn’t have touched . . . OVER the weekend, police treated us to photographs of the security measures to prevent a Berlin-style terror attack at Lincoln Christmas market.

Precautions included concrete barriers, overhead drones and armed officers on the streets.

In the first three days, 180,000 people attended without incident. Yet on Sunday, the market was cancelled when snow was forecast.

Simon Walters, ‘event commander’ — they do love their fancy titles, don’t they? — said the decision had been taken to ensure public safety.

Seventy coaches were turned away. Stallholders lost money and caterer Tom Wilkinson said he had to throw away thousands of sausage rolls.

Inevitably, Lincoln only got a light dusting of snow on Sunday. So elf’n’safety succeeded where the terrorists failed.

Makes you proud to be British.