Porn law loophole

AS a direct result of the Mail’s Block Online Porn campaign, ministers drew up laws to force pornographic websites to impose age checks on all users.

For parents concerned their children are viewing obscene material, they came as a huge relief.

But worryingly, as the Bill which contains these powerful new barriers returns to Parliament, a loophole has emerged. Porn sites will be permitted to publish some violent sexual material and cartoons showing child sex abuse without being blocked by the regulator.

It creates a bizarre double standard, as some of this content remains illegal if downloaded. Could there be a worse message to send to the purveyors and users of such sickening material? ‘WHY would I deny a good school the right to expand?’ asked then education secretary Nicky Morgan two years ago as she approved the expansion of a grammar school in Sevenoaks, Kent. Now privately educated Mrs Morgan has joined forces with Nick Clegg, who went to the elite Westminster school, to oppose Government plans for more grammars, saying they ‘damage social mobility’. And she wonders why we call her Ms U-turn! FORMER Home Office minister Lord Blencathra proposes cutting the House of Lords down to size, largely by culling peers who rarely attend as well as criminals such as expenses cheat Lord Hanningfield. On their own, his plans might not restore public confidence in our bloated Upper House. But they would be a very good start indeed.