| How the fuck are we expected to
know how old she is? |
The UK Government bill introduced a clause in Coroners and Justice Bill to criminalise the possession of non photographic but pornographic images of children with draconian penalties of up to 3 years in prison. This bill has now cleared
all parliamentary hurdles with hardly any meaningful debate whatsoever. A couple of half hearted concerns that the bill may criminalise thousands of innocent people (Eg Hentai fans) were glossed over on a one in million possibility that paedophiles may
work around existing prohibitions via use of animation. Freedom of Speech rightfully retained for Religions to Spout Hateful Nonsense Other portions of the bill caused a little more debate: Base
on an article from freethinker.co.uk : Yesterday the Government was forced to accept Tory Peer Lord Waddington's
free speech clause which says that criticising homosexual conduct is not, in itself, a crime. An offence of inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation was introduced by the Government last year, but the free speech defence,
strongly opposed by the House of Commons, was inserted by former Home Secretary Waddington. The latest round of votes took place this week with MPs voting to delete the clause on Monday and Peers voting to keep it. Peers supported the
clause by 179 votes to 135. In the House of Commons the Justice Secretary Jack Straw accepted the Lords vote. A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said the government was very disappointed at the Lords vote, adding: There is no doubt about the
threshold of this offence. No freedom of expression section is needed to explain it. The threshold is a high one. The offence only covers words or behaviour that are threatening and intended to stir up hatred. But she added the government
could no longer delay the passage of the Coroners Bill. It is with considerable disappointment, therefore, that the government has agreed not to remove the freedom of expression section. |