New documents reveal Thatcher considered banning sex toys
By Josh Haggis
New documents have revealed that Margaret Thatcher wanted to ban sex toys to “protect public decency”.
The documents, released today (December 30) by the National Archives, show that the former Conservative Prime Minister was considering changing the law after she met with anti-obscenity campaigner Mary Whitehouse on a number of occasions.
The then Home Secretary, Leon Brittan, also wrote to Thatcher, arguing that it could be possible to ban sex toys under the 1959 Obscene Publications act.
“Some of the items in circulation are most objectionable, including some which can cause physical injury,” wrote Brittan in 1986.
“There is a strong case for bringing sex aids fully within the scope of the ‘deprave and corrupt’ test in the 1959 Obscene Publications Act. However, certain conceptual difficulties in extending an act designed only to deal with pornography would need to be overcome,” he added.
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