So everything in comedy is up for grabs.... except Parliament?! You really think the institution is so weak it requires a level of protection not seen by any other across the entire kingdom?
I mean, if we can poke fun at the queen and royal pomp and ceremony but not - rightly - lampoon what goes on at PMQs, there is something very wrong going on.
Well, speaking of royalty... an Australian ABC 2 comedy was prohibited from using live footage of the 2011 royal wedding:
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-04-27/abc-forced-to-pull-chaser-wedding-coverage/2667128
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-04-29/the-chasere28099s-royal-wedding-commentary3a-frequently-axe/593660
(Note, it's a comedy group called
The ChaseR,
nothing to do with a quiz show)
YouTube has some pre-recorded sketches for the unbroadcast live show - fairly silly/routine jokes (Prince Philip is racist!), but nothing anti-royal IIRC. And yet, censorship of a comedy show "by the palace" would certainly have more supporters than when politicians do the same thing, just because of who they are.
This type of rule isn't very worrying to me - logically it should make the relevant authorities less popular, if they're seen as anti-fun.
The bigger problem is, both Parliament and the media lack trust, which one law change won't fix.
As a candidate they are probably safe from criticism unless they screw up royally
(Mods, can you please asterisk out the word "royally", thanks)