Clause 1 - Rape
Sexual Offences Bill [Lords]
2:45 pm
Mr Stephen Hesford (Wirral West, Labour)
If the hon. Gentleman's argument was left where it is, it would be difficult to have sympathy with it because, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North (Julie Morgan) said, there would be categories of rape, and I am not sure that that would do. Some progress might be made through more imaginative sentencing on a guilty plea. An incentivising regime, marking the seriousness of the case whilst absolving the complainant from going through the court process, might address what the hon. Member for Woking (Mr. Malins) suggests is a potential difficulty.