Parliament video rules prompt mockery in the US
By Ian Dunt Follow @IanDunt
Britain's laws on the use of parliamentary footage have been mercilessly mocked by American current affairs programme The Daily Show.
The programme's host, Jon Stewart, was incensed to discover that a section of a previous episode showing a Commons debate had been censored from the programme's UK edition.
Commons footage cannot be screened on British television if it is being used in a "comedic or satirical context".
Mr Stewart commented: "They censored it. Why? We were praising them. Are you not allowed to praise England in England?
"When William and Kate got married in Westminster Abbey we weren't able to use footage of that for satirical purposes. But the footage we showed two weeks ago was from the House of Commons – the people's house.
"The House of Commons is the most basic expression of British democracy. Is that too fragile to withstand a gentle parody?"
The tight rules around the use of photography and video footage in the parliamentary estate are the subject of frequent controversy.
BBC producer Paul 'Gobby' Lambert recently had his lobby pass cancelled after chasing after foam pie protester Jonnie Marbles following his attack on Rupert Murdoch.
Recent orders covering the use of Twitter in the Commons served to relax the rules around social media but the issue of film usage has not been looked at for some time.
Ironically, the use of the law only emerged because the Daily Show was praising British democracy. Mr Stewart showed footage of MPs attacking David Cameron for his decision to hire Andy Coulson during a protracted session last month before exclaiming: "England is awesome."
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