Obscene word banned

Press, 6 February 1982, Page 9

Obscene word banned

NZPA-Reuter London The Speaker of the British House of Commons ruled yesterday that the obscene four-letter word for sexual intercourse could not be uttered in debate — because even though dictionaries list it. it is "an unparliamentary expression."

The ruling by the Speaker (Mr George Thomas) ended a parliamentary uproar begun when a Labour member, Reg Race, used the word during a debate on a bill giving local governments the power to bar shops selling sexual paraphernalia from some areas.

Mr Race, who is 34, said that a London sex shop offered a contact list of prostitutes under the slogan: “Phone them and f— them.”

Some members gasped in shock and shouted, “order, order.” But Mr Race was not asked to withdrayv the word, which appeared in Hansard, the official record of parliamentary’ debate, as “f . . .” Mr Thomas said: “So far as I’m concerned and as long as I’m the Speaker. I shall consider that an unparliamentary expression. None of us would use it in our own homes, and I hope that this House can maintain' a better example to the country.”