An MP has hailed a decision – that it will no longer be a crime to “insult” someone – as a victory against political correctness.

Conservative MP Philip Davies, whose Shipley constituency includes Cullingworth and Denholme, praised the Home Secretary for repealing a controversial law on using “insulting words and behaviour”. It achieved notoriety when it once led to the arrest of a student for asking a policeman if his horse was gay.

Earlier this year, the House of Lords passed an amendment scrapping the law and the Director of Public Prosecutions said the move would not hinder his work.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, then announced the Government would not seek to reinstate Section 5 of the 1986 Public Order Act.

Mr Davies said it was right that the law protected people against “unjust discrimination, incitement and violence”, but not against having their feelings hurt.

He said: “We cannot have the courts deciding if someone may feel insulted by something. It is ludicrous.”