CONSERVATIVE
New Forest East

HOMOSEXUAL AGE OF CONSENT - 01 March 1999

HOMOSEXUAL AGE OF CONSENT - 01 March 1999

Dr Julian Lewis: I am disappointed that, in the course of his lengthy remarks, the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr Harris) did not find time to address the point that I put to him. I shall take his advice to heart because I am an open-minded chap and can occasionally even learn something from a Liberal Democrat. I urge the Minister [Paul Boateng] to address that point. Does he accept that these provisions would take away from a young man under the age of 16 who wished to protect himself from the approaches of a persuasive older homosexual male the ability to say, "No, I must not do this because it is illegal"? Would that not diminish the protection of boys under 16?