Delays led to a skipped month, with the December 1967 and January 1968 issues being combined into one, but a monthly schedule returned thereafter."Good News", a loose leaf insert in New Worlds 178. The March 1968 issue contained the third instalment of Norman Spinrad's novel Bug Jack Barron, which included some fairly explicit sex scenes. A member of parliament complained in the House of Commons that the Arts Council was "sponsoring filth"; and soon W.H. Smith and John Menzies, the two main retail outlets for magazines in the UK, withdrew the magazine from sale. The complaints came at the time when the Arts Council was considering renewing the grant for another year, and it appeared for a while that New Worlds would have to cease publication, but eventually the grant was renewed. With money from advertising, and a substantial contribution from Moorcock himself, the magazine was able to survive.
