§ Mr. StephenTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will take action to ensure that the Parliament and courts of the United Kingdom have sole right to decide whether violent or pornographic television programmes may be received on television sets in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. BrookeResponsibility for television programmes originating in the United Kingdom falls to the independent regulatory authorities—the BBC governors, 643W the Independent Television Commission and the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority (S4C). It is for these bodies to ensure that nothing is included in programmes which is likely to encourage or incite to crime or lead to disorder or be offensive to public feeling. Broadcasts originating elsewhere in the EC must meet the standards set out in the EC Television Without Frontiers Directive (89/552/EEC), and any action which the Government take in relation to such broadcasts must he in accordance with our international obligations.