Poll: Is Ray Winstone's use of the word ‘rape’ to describe Britain's taxation system inappropriate?

Modern times: Ray Winstone, far left, and Ben Drew, far right, take over as the tough London coppers

Last night Ray Winstone joined the long list of celebrities who have threatened to flounce out of Britain over high taxes. It's not the threat itself that has caught the nation's attention, however, so much as the language he used to express it.

The hard man of cinema told talkSPORT radio "I can see myself leaving. I love this country but I've had enough. I don't see what we are being given back. I just see the country being raped."

On Twitter @steveplrose commented: "Ray Winstone actually said taxation was 'raping' this country. What a grossly offensive statement. Can we buy him a plane ticket now?"

So, should Winstone think more carefully about the language he uses to express himself? Or is a word, sometimes, just a word?