Britain: allergic to the wrong clowns Nick Cater, back in London, reports that Britain is worse: In an Ashes series for political correctness, the Poms would win hands down. Electronic cigarettes, a seemingly harmless tobacco substitute, have been banned in British pubs, Liddle tells us, on the grounds that they âdisturb" other patrons. Nick is right about the British: A council has removed posters advertising a circus following a complaint from a woman who is scared of clowns. Leighton Buzzard Town Hall Council said it took down the adverts after one complaint - in a town of 28,000 people. An unnamed female resident told the authority the posters were scaring her whenever she drove past them, explaining that she suffers from coulrophobia. The council removed all of the posters and told the circus not to come back to the town unless it uses promotional material without clowns on it. But shouldn't the clowns on the council also leave town?