Clause 65 - Sex with an adult relative: penetration
Sexual Offences Bill [Lords]
4:16 pm
Mr Humfrey Malins (Woking, Conservative)
Both amendments would add the same wording—
''uncle, aunt, nephew or niece''—
to two separate, successive clauses. Clause 65 deals with the ways in which A may be related to B—the amendment sets out some of the more obvious ones. It occurred to my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield and me that it would be appropriate to add uncle, aunt, nephew and niece. It would be helpful to know whether there was a particular reason why they have not been added.
The Solicitor-General has mentioned co-sanguinity—a principle with which we are all familiar. The question for the Government is why are aunts and uncles not deemed to be in the same position as half-brothers and half-sisters on the basis of co-sanguinity? That is an important question and I
would be grateful if the Solicitor-General let me know whether she thinks that we have hit upon an interesting point.