Exchange of the week Battling with Mary Whitehouse

To The Times

Lord Hutchinson of Lullington, QC, now feels that Mary Whitehouse was right to pursue her campaign against depictions of sex and violence. Whitehouse was a suffocater, intent on imposing her immediate prejudices as to morals and means; those she opposed aimed to open windows on the still stuffy room of the 1970s. I was there as drama director of the Arts Council of Great Britain – and I lived it.

Inevitably, some of what blows in through open windows is less than desirable, but the sunlight and fresh air were rejuvenating. Those ventilating artists of the 1970s are no more responsible for a perceived decline in public morals, or for the inanities of social media, or for the availability and popularity of porn, than is Sir Tim Berners-lee, father of the internet which carries it. John Faulkner, drama director Scottish Arts Council and Arts Council of Great Britain 1972-83

To The Times

I have been reading with interest in the pages of your newspaper accounts of the Romans in Britain trial, in which I appeared as counsel for the defendant, Michael Bogdanov. I am pleased to report that rumours of my supposed liberal recantation have been greatly exaggerated. I respected Mary Whitehouse’s sincerity and felt that she was entitled to represent a body of opinion that espoused views which I abhorred then and still do now.

Nevertheless, I had a soft spot for her, as she always gave me a wink when I came into court. Lord Hutchinson of Lullington, QC, London