FIRST OFF . . .

C-SPAN, the U.S.-based cable network that carries House and Senate proceedings, said Tuesday it will air portions of sessions at Britain’s House of Commons starting this fall. After resisting the invasion of cameras for three decades, the House of Commons Monday night endorsed a tightly-scripted plan for live television by a vote of 293-69. Parliament, often the scene of rowdy debates, will be televised for nine months starting with the State Opening by the Queen in November. Members will then decide whether to make the experiment permanent. “Coverage should give an unvarnished account of the proceedings of the House, free of subjective commentary and editing techniques designed to produce entertainment rather than information,” said a parliamentary committee that set the rules. That means no cut-aways to “occasions of grave disorder” or demonstrations from the visitors’ gallery. Only head-and-shoulder shots of members of Parliament will be permitted. House of Commons proceedings are already broadcast on the radio. The more sedate upper chamber of Parliament, the House of Lords, has been on television for the last four years. C-SPAN started coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979 and of the Senate in 1986.