The then prime minister felt “sufficiently strongly” about the case of Visions of Ecstasy, an erotic art-house movie about Christ, he inquired about the possibility of Britain being exempted under the European Convention on Human Rights if that proved necessary.
The controversial 18-minute video depicted Carmelite nun St Teresa’s sexual fantasies about Jesus on the cross.
It was judged unfit for distribution by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) because of its treatment of a “sacred” subject.
When director Nigel Wingrove applied to take the case before the European Court of Human Rights, arguing it breached his freedom of expression, Mr Major described the state of affairs as “wholly unacceptable”.
In a document dated August 1994 sent to senior government figures including the Foreign Secretary and Lord Chancellor, Mr Major writes: “I must make it clear that I would not tolerate a position which required the Government or the BBFC to grant a certificate to this film or to others of a similar type.
“This is a matter on which I feel sufficiently strongly to be prepared to consider a derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights if that were to be necessary in the final analysis.
“I must say I find the position in which we find ourselves wholly unacceptable.”
In a reply, then Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd warned about doing anything “likely to…
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