This law will do nothing to prevent the disturbed criminal elements of this world continuing to offend, it will however make overnight criminals of otherwise law biding citizens who simply have an 'unusual' sexual fetish.

I fail to see how jailing people for viewing material that is staged, consensual and perfectly legal in virtually every other European country achieves anything?

This is a bad law, which breaches several human rights articles, and is not what I would expect from a so-called just and tollerant free country.

   whitespirit, after a bit of searching I am in agreement with your take on Salters involvement. As for this new law, I find it a tad confusing that you can now be criminalised for possessing images of lawful activities.

   Mrs Longhurst is right when she says that the Act will be difficult to enforce. The provisions relating to porn are muddled, badly drafted and can only be applied subjectively. Surely any laws made in this country should be objective, understandable and accessible to ordinary people?

Research on the link between porn and violent crime is inconclusive. However, clearly Mrs Longhurst and Mr Salter believe that viewing porn causes people to commit murders and other violent crimes. In that case, given porn's wide availability, why aren't the courts inundated with people who have committed such crimes?

   Very well said Amelia. The sort of thing that you and the daughter of Mrs Longhurst enjoy might not be my cup of tea but, unlike the odious bandwagon jumping Salter, I have no thoughts about making you a criminal simply because I prefer other things. We already have plenty of laws that deal with people suffering unwanted abuse and the introduction of criminal offences for simply viewing pictures is an abomination.

   Not sure I agree Ian, I know that salter can't see a band-wagon without hitching himself to it hook line and sinker but it is Mrs Longhurst who started this rather sad campaign to criminalise many of my friends. Personally I don't get off on much what Ameila describes as kinky sex and what I would describe as simply sex. For example I have no interest in bondage at all but several of my friends do so and enjoy visiting clubs that cater for this. Why should this silly pruidish, albeit greiving, old woman make them criminals? this is so reminicent of Operation Spanner it is really quite frightening. What next, compulsory missionary position?

   I am a 31-year-old woman, the age Jane Longhurst was when she was murdered. And I enjoy kinky sex. I don’t have much imagery showing it, but I know a lot of people who do. The reason they have such material is not because they are monsters, but because they participate in and enjoy the kind of sex acts that the material depicts. From tomorrow these people will be in fear of arrest, because one (however understandably) distressed old lady could not face the idea that her daughter might be a pervert, and despicable politicians used her distress as a bandwagon.

Being kinky is not a crime: Coutts made his sexual kinks criminal in much the same way that you can use a kitchen knife for a crime, but this does not mean every chef in Britain should be locked up for owning one.

Using Mrs Longhurst’s grief as a cloak under which to hide bigoted attacks on people like me, and then calling us abusers when we protest, is not ‘justice’, it is despicable. Mrs Longhurst has allowed her grief to turn her into a tool for the intimidation and persecution of many thousands of harmless people who simply happen to like consensual kinky sex.

   whitespirit, to be fair to the woman, Salter hijacked her grief and pushed this on her.

   this bill is utter rubbish. It is simply one woman trying to impose her prudish views, prompted by greif I accept, on the rest of society. Go and greive in peace and allow those who enjoy consensual sexual practices you disapprove off to enjoy what they do in private in peace as well.

   So how will this affect all the foreigners coming into the country who have had pornography on normally television at home and hardcore / extreme on satellite for many years – does that mean they are all murderers and rapists? I agree with Mountain Cat - typical stupid law from the government to try and control us English once again!

   The law is another example of the Stalinist tendencies at work in NuLabour. A campaign with no evidence whatsoever has brought forward legislation that has been pushed through parliament with virtually no discussion at all and will result in the criminalisation of ordinary people for what? Looking at pictures! If you think that this law involves censorship of only the very worst images then visit http://www.backlash-uk.org.uk/ for more information. It is nothing to do with justice for a dead woman but rather more about controlling our access to the internet.