More!: ‘little moral content’
More! was singled out in Parliament this week for containing “little moral content”.
The criticisms arose in a debate about the availability of “pornographic” magazines to young children.
Andrew Selous, Conservative MP for South West Bedfordshire, demanded clarification on the policy for preventing pornographic titles from being sold to children.
Media Secretary Tessa Jowell said there was a case for looking at what might be done to safeguard children and said she would arrange a meeting with the Local Government Association and interested parties.
Jowell refused to commit herself to the outcome of the discussions. She said the Government would produce proposals that were “proportionate and practical” and that it would work with the industry wherever possible.
Gerald Howarth, Conservative MP for Aldershot, hit out at More! and claimed the most serious problems were not the top shelf, but the shelves “on which magazines such as More!, published by Emap are readily on display”.
“If the minister would take the trouble to read such magazines, she would find that they concentrate on the mechanics of sex and that they contain little moral content,” he said.
By Ruth Addicott
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