City lifts ban on Life of Brian

Councillors in Glasgow have lifted an unofficial 30-year-old ban on the Monty Python film The Life of Brian.

The council’s licensing and regulatory committee approved a request on Tuesday from Glasgow Film Theatre to show the biblical satire under a 15 certificate.

Glasgow was one of 39 local authorities in the UK that refused to grant the film a general release in 1979.

Opponents said the film, about a Jewish man who is mistaken for the Messiah and crucified, was blasphemous.

Councillor Willie O’Rourke, vice convener of the licensing and regulatory committee, said: "The world, and people’s attitudes, have moved on in the last 30 years, so I believe the committee made the right decision today."

• Full story at BBC Scotland.

• Posted in Glasgow, West + Ayrshire, Media, Secularism