I agree. There would have to be a discount. It might be tiny, but the judge would have to accept the fact that there had been an immediate plea of guilty by giving such a discount.

I have put the facts before the Committee. In the circumstances that I described, the public would feel that there was insufficient protection from the activities of that individual.

It could be argued that the Amendment is draconian, because it proposes a long sentence—in fact, it would be seven years in prison, because people serve half their sentence—for an individual who has not committed a full offence against someone else, but who had that intention. At least the proposal provides a measure of reassurance that that person will not be released for a considerable time. I do not support the provision of a power for life imprisonment because I consider it disproportionate. We cannot lock up for life people who have not committed serious offences, even if we think that they may commit such offences in future. We cannot run the criminal justice system on that basis. Including the possibility of a 14-year sentence means that judges will be able to provide some reassurance to the public, in exceptional cases, that Parliament takes the issue seriously.

I fear that there will be more than one or two examples of judges saying, ''This is all that I can do.'' Admittedly, what can be done is better than what could be done. Often, nothing at all could be done. However, given the nature of paedophile offences and offenders, we would be justified in widening the sentence to 14 years and opening up that possibility to the courts. Other members of the Committee may disagree. I do not wish to sound silly, but I have not moved the amendment with a light heart. I rather regret having to do it, but in this case it may be justified, and I should like to hear what other members of the Committee feel.