The Luff Bill

In 1996 Peter Luff, Tory MP for Worcester, requested permission of the House of Commons to bring in the Periodicals (Protection of Children) Bill, requiring publishers to display an age suitability warning on the front cover of young women's magazines. The Bill originated amid growing concern about the explicit nature of teenage magazines and Peter Luff's specific anxieties for the effect of these on his 11 year old daughter. The focus of criticism was that these magazines encourage girls to think it is normal to have sex before the age of sexual consent.

The main objective of the Bill then was to ensure that the contents of magazines read by young people, male or female, are age-appropriate and factually accurate and to ensure general decency among magazines (House of Commons Official Report, 1996). The Bill received widespread parliamentary support in February 1996 but was opposed in March, and finally withdrawn by Luff in July 1996. Nevertheless the Bill raises some important questions, in particular would the terms of such a Bill be feasible? And are they desirable?

Contact: Kerry Neilson , TMAP secretariat, kerry.neilson@ppa.co.uk, 0207 400 7520

Teenage Magazine Arbitration Panel (TMAP)
28 Kingsway
London WC2B 6JR

tel: 0207 400 7520 - fax: 020 7404 4167 - email: kerry.neilson@ppa.co.uk - web: www.tmap.org.uk -

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