Clause 25 - Sections 18 to 21: marriage exception
Sexual Offences Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Ms Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole, Liberal Democrat)
I thank the Solicitor-General for that. I believe that many of the points that we discussed this morning apply to this clause. It occurred to me that the marriage exemption is almost discriminatory, given that some relationships in the 16-to-18 age range would be allowed but others would be disallowed; for example, if people had chosen to live together or were of the same sex. I wonder whether discrimination is involved.