Lords reject Springer case

The House of Lords has refused to hear a petition of appeal brought by a Christian Voice in their attempt to prosecute the BBC for blasphemy over the screening of Jerry Springer - The Opera .

Written by Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee, Jerry Springer - The Opera has attracted controversy for its satirical religious imagery.

The Law Lords ruled, however, that the blasphemy case, already dismissed by Westminster magistrates, was not  worthy of a hearing. Their ruling stated that: 'Permission is refused because the petition does not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance which ought to be considered by the House at this time, bearing in mind that the cause has already been the subject of judicial decision and reviewed on appeal.'

Christian Voice's director, Stephen Green, said: "Christians will now have to take matters into their own hands when Christ is insulted on stage and on screen. As it happens, our campaign against the theatre tour of Jerry Springer the Opera was highly successful, by the grace of God. The producers and theatres lost a fortune and Stewart Lee himself said it was 'ruined'. Blasphemy isn't going to happen on stage in the United Kingdom, it's just that unless and until this loophole is closed, Christians will have to find avenues other than those of the law."

Back in 2005, when the campaign against Jerry Springer - The Opera was first getting underway, a national tour almost had to be scrapped after Arts Council England withdrew funding.

The controversy was one of the reasons that the Writers' Guild of Great Britain revived its Anti-Censorship Committee in that same year, campaigning against limitations on writers' freedom of expression.

Article published 06.03.08