BRISTOL East MP Kerry McCarthy has backed a campaign to end the use of topless women on page three of The Sun.
The Labour MP today challenged Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to also take a stand on the issue.
Mr Clegg had previously said it would be "deeply illiberal" for the government to dictate the content of newspapers.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Ms McCarthy said: "The Deputy Prime Minister, not for the first time, disappointed many people this week by refusing to support calls for the editor of The Sun to take the long overdue step of dropping page three, saying that it would be illiberal to do so.
"Does his version of liberalism really prevent him from taking a public stand against the objectification of women? Whose interests is he most interested in protecting?"
Mr Clegg said the Bristol MP had "entirely twisted" his words.
He added: "I said - I would be interested to know whether she agrees with this - that it would be wholly illiberal and wrong for this House to seek to compel any editor to determine the content of their newspapers. If that is the kind of authoritarian nonsense she believes in, then I am perfectly content to say that we entirely disagree."
Speaking afterwards, Ms McCarthy said the No More Page 3 campaign was not looking to ban the pictures, but to persuade the newspaper to stop running them.
She added: "He ought to be supporting the campaign."
No comments:
Post a Comment