INDECENT DISPLAYS (NORTHERN IRELAND) (Hansard, 6 July 1976)

§ Mr. Robert J. Bradford (Belfast, South)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make fresh provision in Northern Ireland with respect to the display, advertisement or distribution of indecent matter and to the use of machines for the viewing of indecent pictures; and for purposes connected with those matters. The House, in its wisdom, gave leave to the hon. and learned Member for Thanet, West (Mr. Rees-Davies) to bring in a Bill which seeks to remove a public nuisance, namely the uncontrolled displays of indecent matters in the form of magazines and advertisements and the 1172 uncontrolled use of machines for the viewing indecent pictures.

It is an encouragement to many outside the House who share the views of the hon. and learned Member for Thanet, West to note that an attempt is again being made to end the practice of subjecting young and old, immature and mature, willing and unwilling, to offensive, erotic materials. My only disappointment with the hon. and learned Gentleman's Bill is that it is not intended to apply to Northern Ireland. Perhaps this is for technical reasons which may be beyond criticism. Therefore, a comparable Bill is required to afford the people of Northern Ireland protection from the bombardment of indecent matter from which there is little or no escape.

I will not embark on a preamble which would outline the historical development of the pursuit to obtain or strengthen safeguards against indecent displays. This has already been done eloquently and cogently by many hon. Members from both sides of the House since the introduction of the Conservatives' Bill in 1973. But there are two observations that I should like to make.

First, Northern Ireland needs fresh legislation in this regard as much as any other part of the United Kingdom. The second observation is that Northern Ireland desires such new provisions and controls as are intended for any other part of the United Kingdom.

The steady increase in indecent matter and in the number of prosecutions to which a former Home Secretary referred in 1973 has not passed Northern Ireland by. On the pavements of most of the main streets in the city of Belfast one is confronted by some very explicit erotic magazines which surely offend the sensibilities of many people. In certain book stores it is impossible not to have the most suggestive matter flung in one's face.

Not only are these indecent magazines placed alongside more normal periodicals in many small shops, but magazines are actually interspersed with children's comics. The price asked for some of these most explicit magazines is as low as 20p and averages about 30p, which is not beyond the reach of young boys and girls.

No attempt is made, discreetly or otherwise, to arrange material so as to make a clear choice to view sexual magazines 1173 necessary. Indeed, there appears to be an easy facility, particularly for very young people, to encounter erotic magazines and literature at a very early age.

In Northern Ireland, we have our share of machines which reveal that the butler is still suffering from cataract although his tenacity is breathtaking. No doubt plans are afoot to instal a "dial-a-thrill" phone-in facility, such as I understand is already available in London. All these things are in public arcades and amusement centres open to every member of the public.

My Bill would seek to remove from the streets and public places offensive matter and offending machines to locations which could be entered only after payment for such entry had been made, facilitating adults of 18 and upwards who had made a decision to view the materials displayed. Such a Bill is needed in Northern Ireland.

Secondly, such a Bill is desired in Northern Ireland. Although this Bill is not an attempt to impose new censorship measures, it is a challenge to those who believe that young people, and indeed those of older years, can remain impervious to the detrimental influence of indecent mater if exposure is incessant and unavoidable.

Young people will be inclined to accept that sexual expression whenever and wherever they choose and with whomever is available without reserve is the norm of society. The correlation between sexual experience and mutual love within Christian marriage will be rendered difficult, if not entirely impossible, by the exposure to magazines which suggest that one can do one's own thing and everything is up for grabs.

I do not think that many people in Northern Ireland are as disposed to accept, as some psychiatrists would have us believe, that our sexual tendencies are determined at the early age of five or 1174 six and that no further influences matter at all. As for adults, it is a very brave person who will argue that exposure to indecent and erotic materials does not sometimes result in the most promiscuous behaviour which is both physically and psychologically damaging. Particularly it will be a brave person who will contend that when the disciplines of psychology and psychiatry maintain a stance of noble agnosticism.

This Bill of necessity has narrow terms of reference, as does its counterpart for Great Britain. It does not seek to define indecency, and it does not seek to attack the production of pornography—much as I would desire those two processes to take place at some later stage. It does not seek to make Northern Ireland a cleaner Province by challenging the concept that the public display of indecent material is inconsequential to young and old.

By implication the Bill contends that it is as much a nonsense to state that filth does not corrupt as to assert that beauty and wholesomeness do not enrich our society.