Last updated at 6:29 PM on 18th May 2011
- Sex attackers could be jailed for only 15 months
- Ed Miliband calls for him to be sacked during PMQs
- Justice Secretary confronted by victim during radio phone-in
Kenneth Clarke apologised tonight after he appeared to suggest that he did not believe that some rapes were serious.
In a series of interviews this morning the Justice Secretary implied that there was distinction between 'serious, proper rapes' and others as he defended controversial proposals to halve some rapists' sentences if they made early guilty pleas.
Following the comments, Mr Clarke faced a call to resign from Labour leader Ed Miliband during a heated Prime Minister's Questions session in the Commons.
And under pressure from Downing Street, Mr Clarke was then forced to return to the TV studios to clarify his remarks and insist that he had not intended to cause offence.
Apology Kenneth Clarke has said sorry but is still facing calls to resign after he implied date rape was not as serious an offence as other forms of rape in a radio interview
He told Sky News: 'Obviously , I don't intend to give the impression and didn't intend to choose words which gave the impression that all rape is not serious.
'Every rape is serious. That's always been my view and that's why I haven't the faintest intention of changing the sentence for rape.'
The Ministry of Justice released a statement, in which Mr Clarke said: 'My view has always been that all rape is a very serious crime, with appalling consequences for victims, and I certainly didn't mean to give any other impression. Any rape deserves to be punished with the full force of the law.
'I and the Government are absolutely clear that we are not proposing - and never have proposed - to reduce the sentences available for rape, or any other crime.'
The row was sparked by an interview on BBC Radio Five Live, in which Mr Clarke angrily rejected reports that new plea-bargain arrangements could result in sex attackers facing just 15 months behind bars.
Asked why rape sentences were on average only five years, he said: 'That includes date rape, 17-year-olds having intercourse with 15-year-olds.
'A serious rape, with violence and an unwilling woman, the tariff is much longer than that. I don't think many judges give five years for a forcible rape, frankly.'
Clash: Ed Miliband demanded Mr Clarke's resignation during a heated PMQs session while David Cameron said rape was 'one of the most serious crimes that there is and it should be met with proper punishment'
Asked if he thought date rape did not count as a 'serious' offence, he said: 'Date rape can be as serious as the worst rapes but date rapes, in my very old experience of being in trials, they do vary extraordinarily one from another and in the end the judge has to decide on the circumstances.'
SPARKING CONTROVERSY
Ken Clarke is not the first person to get himself in hot water over comments made about the sensitive issue of rape.
In September 2010 British heavyweight boxing star David Haye sparked fury when he said his world heavyweight title fight with Audley Harrison would be as 'one-sided as a gang rape'.
In June last year Kristen Stewart, star of the Twilight movies, apologised after a comment in Elle magazine, when she compared being hounded by the press to rape, sparked controversy.
In the interview, Stewart compared the trappings of fame to a woman being sexually assaulted. She later apologised and said she had chosen her words poorly.
In 2008 a senior BNP official was sacked as a London Assembly election candidate after he described rape as a 'myth'.
Nick Eriksen, author of far-right blog Sir John Bull, reportedly wrote in August 2005: 'I've never understood why so many men have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by the feminazi myth machine into believing that rape is such a serious crime...
'Rape is simply sex. Women enjoy sex, so rape cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal.'
Put to him that 'rape is rape', he said: 'No, it is not.'
Mr Clarke was also confronted by a rape victim during a phone-in, who said she was put through almost two years of trauma before her attacker pleaded guilty.
She branded Mr Clarke's plans 'a disaster'.
Talking through her tears, she told Mr Clarke: 'I wouldn't wish what I went through, fighting the criminal justice system for 688 days, on my worst enemy.
'I'd gone through the trauma of it, for the 688 days and then on that 688th day he pleads guilty and gets out early.'
She added that the attack had a knock-on effect on her career and her family
Labour leader Ed Miliband seized on the remarks by Mr Clarke at Prime Minister's question time in the Commons, demanding David Cameron sack the veteran Cabinet minister by the end of the day.
Mr Miliband said the Justice Secretary 'cannot speak for the women of this country when he makes comments like that' and 'should be removed immediately from the high-profile role'.
Mr Cameron said he had not heard the interview but rape was 'one of the most serious crimes that there is and it should be met with proper punishment'.
The 'real disgrace' was that only 6 per cent of reported rape cases ended in a conviction, he said.
A Downing Street source said they were sure Mr Clarke 'will be clarifying his remarks to make sure everybody knows how seriously he takes rape in all its forms'.
So long as he did that, his position was not in question, she indicated.
On his return to the Sky studio, Mr Clarke was pressed repeatedly to say whether he would apologise for his remarks.
He responded: 'I will have a look when I get the chance at the transcripts of what I said.
'If I have given the impression that I do not regard all rape as a serious crime, I will sit down and have a look at it and see how on earth I gave that impression.
'I will make sure I give my views more clearly in future.'
Getting off lightly: The new government rules will also apply to criminals who commit burglary, robbery and other serious offences
He said his intention had simply been to explain that sentences for rapists vary from case to case, depending on the circumstances surrounding the offence.
At present, admitting an offence immediately can qualify for a discount of a third of a sentence.
Supporters of the reform say it spares victims having to relive their ordeals in court but Mr Miliband said it was opposed by judges, campaigners and the Government's own victims' commissioner.
'Rape is such a serious offence and you should wait for the outcome of the consultation rather than just jumping on the bandwagon,' Mr Cameron told him.
The Prime Minister left open the possibility that rapists could be excluded from the move to increase the sentence reduction for early guilty pleas - noting that it was still up for consultation.
Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation which represents rank-and-file officers in England and Wales, said the Government should not be using 'veiled and hidden discounts that the public don't understand and neither do I' in sentencing.
Asked if Mr Clarke should resign, he said: 'It's not for me to say whether or not he should be in his place. Perhaps he will review and reflect on what he has said and look at it from a different perspective.'
Are you the woman who confronted Mr Clarke? Do you know who it is? Call the Daily Mail newsdesk on 020 7938 6154
Why the surprise? The only way nowadays to do serious jail time with no remission is to be a pensioner jailed for non-payment of council tax - the 'system' has no problem with that!!
- ManxMan, Douglas, IoM, 18/5/2011 12:13
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