Clause 15
11:30 am
Evan Harris (Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment 1, in clause 15, page 14, line 28, after ‘person’, insert ‘aged 18 or over’.
I apologise for not recognising the appropriate way forward during the last debate, Mr. Bayley. I resisted the temptation to make the points that I wanted to make during a clause 14 stand part debate, as I was not sure whether you would have allowed that either. I shall make a few short remarks about this amendment, because I rather hope—[Interruption.] I shall wait until the Minister is ready to hear my remarks. They are very short, and he might miss them if he blinks.
Why have the Government not introduced the provision in my amendment? I want it, if possible, to be debated by the whole House, because the Government have shown an interest in it before. I could go into the reasons why there is a strong argument for decriminalising child prostitution. They involve our human rights responsibilities and our ability to encourage the victims of an offence—in this case children—to come forward, which is less likely if they are criminalised themselves.
The Government have given some thought to this matter in the past and indicated a willingness to look at it. I hope that shall I preserve the opportunity for the House as a whole to debate this important issue if I limit my remarks and provide the Government with an opportunity to explain why they feel that this is not the right time to discuss it in Committee.