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Lib Dems: Talking Shop... Good work from the Lib Dems |
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The Liberal Democrats will debate the issue
of regulations applying to sex shops at their 2002 conference.
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Full motion from conference notes:
i) That most pornographic material is no longer produced solely for heterosexual men, but encompasses a much wider audience.
ii) The proliferation of pornography in line with the growth of the World Wide Web and the proliferation of adult content broadcast channels in line with increased consumer demand.
iii) The minor relaxations in censorship of magazines, films and television programmes regarding acceptable sexual content.
iv) The Government White Paper, A New Future For Communications, and its calls for changes to the film classification system, with responsibility for video classification being taken from the British Board of Film Classification and handed to OFCOM.
v) The abnormalities and contradictions that currently exist within UK law on pornography.
vi) That the content of much of the pornography in the United Kingdom is influenced by the current indecency laws which have been ruled unfair by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
vii) That R rated films can only be distributed on video and sold in licensed sex shops.
Conference believes that:
a) The consensual viewing of pornography that portrays all forms of sexuality involving consenting adults is acceptable in today’s society.
b) Pornography portraying sexual acts with un-consenting adults, those illegal as outlined by law or those involving persons under the age of consent is always unacceptable.
c) Pornography portraying legal sexual acts involving consenting adults should be available to buy from safe, reliable and discreet sources.
d) People should be given detailed information about the contents of programmes, videos and films so that they can make appropriate choices about what they watch.
Conference therefore calls for:
1. Relaxation of censorship laws so that all pornography depicting consensual sexual activity is available to adults over the age of 16 who wish to purchase it, and in so doing remove contradictions in the current laws surrounding pornography.
2. Revision of the R18 rating to R16, whilst maintaining the tight and responsible enforced licensing of sex shops.
3. Reductions in the cost of licensing a sex shop, discouraging people from buying less reliably sourced material over the internet; and moves towards future regulation and licensing of online sex shops.
4. Work with European Union partners to initiate similar regulation of cross-border trade in pornographic material.
5. Relevant public authorities to be empowered to regulate all stages of the production of pornographic materials within the United Kingdom so as to ensure good working conditions and the protection of human rights, including fair pay and high standards of health and safety, that all contractual arrangements be fair and freely entered into, that those involved have not in any way been coerced, and the prevention of public nuisance.
6. The effects of ECHR rulings on UK indecency laws to be incorporated into law as soon as possible.
Amendment 1
After vii) (line 17) insert:
Conference regrets the increased prevalence and visibility of pornography in popular media.
Delete a) (lines 19-20) and insert:
a) That demand for pornography in today’s society should be managed by regulation, to minimise potential dangers to vulnerable people.
Applicability: England and Wales; except for 5 and 6 (lines 38-45) which are Federal.
Mover of motion: 7 minutes; all other speakers: 4 minutes.
Outcome as reported by the BBC (What twisted reporting...it strikes me that the old tossers of the party are merely proving that the concept of being liberal is a total no-no to all senior politicians of all parties)
Suposedly Liberal Democrat leaders have avoided a potentially damaging defeat over calls to relax the laws on pornography.
Simon Hughes, the party's home affairs spokesman, narrowly won a call to refer the matter back for further consideration. Lib Dem leaders feared a defeat on the issue could damage the party's credibility as a mainstream political force. Hughes argued that there was nothing in the motion to protect young people under 16 or to regulate the internet. After a quick show of hands, Hughes won a bid to refer the matter back to a Liberal Democrat policy committee by 259 votes to 228. Party leader Charles Kennedy had already argued that there were technical problems with the motion.
The party's youth and students wing (LDYS) had wanted to reduce the age limit on sex videos and magazines from 18 to 16. The group said adults should be free to choose what they see, the age of 16 should be the threshold and that the industry should be better regulated.
Chris Gee, of the LYDS, insisted the measure related solely to consensual sexual activity between adults over the age of 16. He said the current Lib Dems stance, which claimed that pornography "exploits women and demeans men", was outdated. Pornography is already prevalent in Britain today, 72% of internet users have searched for pornography. The move aimed to "protect the young, the vulnerable and all members of society" and would not mean "forcing pornography on people". This motion aims to protect workers, uphold freedom and free up police time to deal with the unacceptable forms of pornography, said Mr Gee.
The matter will be debated by the party's policy committee, which will return to next year's conference with a new proposal.
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