Westminster Corridors
There was much to disturb Puzzle when the House debated the Cinematograph and Indecent Displays Bill. For one thing in the Special Public Gallery, seated in splendid isolation, was the censorious elder sister of Duty, the stern daughter of the voice of God, Mistress Mary Whitehouse. The wenth was clad in lurid red which is most appropriate for a woman who appears on television with that master of the revels Chef Freud who, alas. made no contribution to the debate.
Not far from her was the permissive pygmy, Mr John Calder. The dramatis personae was not, however, complete for I could see nothing of good Lord Longford — he may have arrived later. may have been praying, researching new material, or perhaps trying to find his way from the Lords to the Commons without divine guidance.
Usually when the Chamber turns to sex, or anything related to it, the result is like a drunken Irish debate on the merits of transubstantiation. It is, of course, Wholly appropriate that a nation which declares a state of emergency because some workers will not do any overtime should work itself into a frazzle about something — in this case 'indecency' which it not only cannot define but is rather proud of its inability to do so.
That Moss Bros minister from the Home Office, Mr Mark Carlisle, was particularly happy in the knowledge that indecency had been defined which, he explained, had never troubled the courts, and no doubt he is right. But if he wants to be aware of the dangers of imprecise terminology he need look no further than his own speech which contained the splendidly ambiguous passage: , I have no doubt, as a result of my experience at the Home Office, that the type of material going unsolicited through people's letter boxes has become steadily more and more depraved.
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