Queen to detail new ratings system for online music videos and English 5p plastic bag levy
The Queen is expected to unveil government plans to introduce a new age rating system for online music videos when she sets out parliament’s legislative programme later today.
It follows growing parent pressure for action to limit the exposure of children to sexualised imagery following a number of raunchy depictions which have made the headlines, notably Miley Cyrus getting intimate with a sledgehammer, Robin Thicke’s cohort of naked women and the ‘twerking’ phenomenon.
Overseen by the British Board of Film Classification the new system would see all online videos carry an age rating which would take into account the glamorisation of nudity, drugs, violence and self-harm.
Prime Minister David Cameron has previously warned the music industry to take more effective action to police itself or face the imposition of fresh regulations.
Meanwhile The Queen is also expected to announce in Parliament later today government plans to enforce a 5p plastic bag levy on supermarkets in England as part of efforts to reduce the mountain of 8 billion plastic bags deposited in landfill each year.
To be introduced next year the charge is expected to reduce bag usage by as much as three quarters and will be applicable to all supermarkets and larger stores employing more than 500 people.
Environmentalists have long campaigned for government action to stem the use of disposable bags, which take up to 1,000 years to decompose and litter the British countryside.
Governments in Northern Ireland and Wales have already enacted legislation to curb bag usage with Scotland set to follow suit this October.
Proceeds from the plastic bag tax will be given over to charity.