The Government faces calls to stagger the age of consent following allegations of sexual misconduct against entertainers David Walliams and Russell Brand, with a minister saying young women should not be at the mercy of powerful men.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the country has been “appalled by the abuse of power by powerful men” and that “a big age gap can be part of that”.
Minister responds to allegations
Speaking on Sky News’s Sunday Morning With David Olusoga programme, Mr McFadden said: “So, I think what we’ve seen over the last week has certainly raised that question. There’ll be a number of issues to work through on it.”
“I can’t give you a final answer on that today, but I do think that between Russell Brand, David Walliams, what’s been put out there, people are looking at these issues in a new light,” he added.
“They’re looking at powerful men abusing their position and that question, which has been raised I think by someone who was a victim of Russell Brand, has come out today is certainly something that ministers will talk about.”
Calls for legal change
On the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Mr McFadden referred to calls for a staggered age of consent, saying: “I think it’s certainly a question that has been raised and will be discussed, can’t tell you what the conclusion of that would be, but the last week has certainly put that up in lights.”
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately told Sky News about a potential law change: “If your teenage daughter comes home after spending time with somebody who’s in their 40s or my age, we’re like, ‘oh, there’s something funny going on here’, so I think it’s an interesting idea.”
Ms Whately, who has a 16-year-old daughter, suggested it may be time to act because now you see “so many people – and it seems to be in plain sight – going about abusing” and “taking advantage of young women”.
Allegations against Brand and Walliams
On Saturday, a woman referred to under the pseudonym of Alice in previous reporting by The Sunday Times, The Times, and a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary on Brand waived her anonymity. Mia Latter, now 37, alleged she had been mistreated by jailed comedian Brand when she was a teenager and he was 30.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Ms Latter called for the introduction of a staggered age of consent – which would make relationships between adults and teenagers aged 16 and 17 illegal. She told the newspaper: “It’s shocking to me time and time again that whenever the news comes up again about him, it’s always in the comments about the relationship with a 16-year-old.”
Brand was convicted of attacks against four of the six women who gave evidence against him, and he is now serving a 10-and-a-half-year prison term for one count of rape and three sexual assaults.
Earlier this week, it was announced that a series of “serious” sex offence allegations against David Walliams are being probed by the Metropolitan Police following an investigation by The Guardian and ITV News on Tuesday. One woman described her alleged encounter with Walliams when she was 15 as “sexual assault”. Walliams denies any wrongdoing.
