Orders of the Day — Obscene Publications Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 29 March 1957.

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Photo of Mr Douglas Houghton Mr Douglas Houghton , Sowerby 12:00, 29 March 1957

As my hon. Friend says, we have had two wars since then.

We have had stories of war experiences and of the horrors of war, and really it is so difficult now to get a straight line on this matter. If sometimes we allow young people to see or read things, then we find that their curiosity is satisfied, and they find perhaps that it is not as exciting as they thought, or that they are soon bored with it.

Again, I have met many men who will tell "smutty stories" in the presence of young people, but who will condemn as strongly as anyone the circulation of pornographic books. We are all such hypocrites about these matters. We have not got the thing straight in our own minds. We seem to think that what is said in conversation is not particularly objectionable, but that when it goes into print, then it is. I am against all forms of pornography, indecency and bad taste. I think that there is far too much of it, and far more trash on the bookstalls than reflects credit on our educational system and on the homes of Britain today.

One can be rather distressed and a little frightened on reading such a book as Richard Hoggart's "Uses of Literacy", and see what a rising standard of life is producing in the wider circulation of "glossies", the introduction of a new form of female snobbery called "falsies", and other examples of deplorable taste, but we shall not cure that by law. We shall cure it only by more education, upon which the country will have to spend much more yet to achieve its purpose, not only in this but in many other desirable directions.

I welcome this Bill because I believe that it will achieve greater certainty in the law and provide greater freedom of publication. There are certain matters which I think may need attention during the Committee stage, and I will refer to one of them. It concerns the seizure of books alleged to be obscene from the shelves of booksellers by the police, and their retention by the police for an unduly long period, while someone makes up his mind whether to prosecute or not.

I heard of a bookseller, whose shelves perhaps contained numerous examples of advanced literature, having his premises raided by the police, hundreds of books taken from his shelves representing hundreds of pounds of capital invested, denuding his shop of much that was there, and leaving him without any redress until a decision had been taken whether to prosecute or not. I think that, if need be, there should be some limitation placed upon the delay which may occur between the seizure and a decision on proceedings, but that and other matters may receive attention during the Committee stage.

I think that the main purpose of the Bill is a desirable one, and one which I certainly support, and I should like to congratulate the noble Lord the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Viscount Lambton) on introducing it. I will conclude on this note. I think it is a pity that Ministers do not take the initiative more in these matters of conventional morality and social questions. It rather looks as if, in these days of marginal political situations, not only the Government but some hon. Members of this House wish to shy away from these difficulties and controversies. That is a bad thing for this House, for Parliament and for the country. We must not allow the marginal political situation to make cowards of us.

We must stand up against opposition and public criticism, however precarious our electoral position may be. If we are to surrender to organised pressure groups, not only in this but in other connections, then this great institution of Parliament will be less worthy of the confidence of the people than it is. I should welcome any sign of courage of this kind, and will do my humble best to support it, and I hope that in due course we may have signs of greater Ministerial courage in this difficult field of legislation.