Part of Sexual Offences Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 11:15 am on 16 September 2003.
The hon. Gentleman may remember that I raised that issue on Second Reading. The Home Secretary at that stage kept referring to five years. He did not dream that up. I understand that the original proposal was five years and that seven years came in following further consultation and representations from the police—I only discovered that at the briefing. The hon. Gentleman will also remember that when I raised with the Home Secretary in that debate my anxiety that seven years might not be long enough, he seemed to be sympathetic to my anxiety.