LOWER THE AGE OF CONSENT TO JUST FOURTEEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Daanyeer]

Lower the age of consent to just FOURTEEN, say civil servants... and let's make nudity on the streets legal too
Civil servants were asked for ideas to cut state intrusion into everyday life
'Outrageous' suggestion to lower consent age was rejected by ministers
But reforms to nudity laws are still being considered, sources say




By James Chapman

PUBLISHED:22:30 GMT, 10 January 2013| UPDATED: 07:41 GMT, 11 January 2013


Lowering the age of sexual consent to 14 and allowing public nudity were among the suggestions made by officials drawing up new laws on personal freedoms.

Number 10 asked civil servants to produce a list of ideas that could be included in legislation to reduce state intrusion into everyday life.

The ‘outrageous’ suggestion to lower the age of consent has been rejected out of hand by ministers and their advisers.




But sources said reforms to nudity laws, which would give men and women the right to wander naked on Britain’s streets and beaches without fear of arrest, were still being considered.

Men bathing naked on a beach not designated for naturism, or appearing nude in other public areas, can face prosecution under the 1824 Vagrancy Act, which makes it illegal to expose the ‘male person’. Women can be charged under the Public Order Act.



In a joint appearance at Downing Street earlier this week, David Cameron and Nick Clegg revealed that a new ‘Freedoms Bill’ would be among key priorities for the next two and a half years of coalition government.


‘As we take steps to reshape the British state for the 21st century, we will take further steps to limit its scope and extend our freedoms,’ they said.

Two sources told the Daily Mail that lowering the age of consent for sexual intercourse from 16 was one of the proposals to emerge from the Number 10 policy unit.




In 1875 the Offences Against the Persons Act raised the age of sexual consent from 12 to 13 in Great Britain and Ireland. Ten years later, the Criminal Law Amendment Act raised it again, to 16.

Some libertarians have argued that the law should be reformed as it is routinely flouted, with 40 per cent of teenagers becoming sexually active by the age of 15.


Academics have proposed that the age of consent could be reduced from 16 to 14 – but only for young couples who are less than two years apart in age, to prevent paedophile relationships.

According to organisations such as the International Child and Youth Care Network, an age of consent of 16 criminalises more than half the teenage population and makes it hard to give them proper advice and support to prevent diseases, unwanted pregnancies and abuse.

But one Tory source said the Prime Minister had been ‘appalled’ to discover that lowering the age of consent had ever been considered.



‘The Liberal Democrats are leading on this Bill and people were in shock. With everything that’s going on with Jimmy Savile, you don’t need more than two brain cells to realise how toxic this is,’ the source said.

‘There is some sensible stuff in the Bill, such as making it easier to get permission for street parties and other public events. How these other ideas even came to be put down on paper is beyond comprehension. They are bonkers and we insisted they were abandoned.’

Lib Dem sources insisted it was ‘categorically untrue’ that the party had ‘in any way been pushing the idea on sexual consent’.

One said: ‘Officials were asked to go and brainstorm. As soon as the list that was drawn up by officials was shown to anyone on the political side, it was a complete non-starter.

‘To say it didn’t get off the ground is a gross understatement – it was strangled at birth.’



The source added: ‘Anyone who couldn’t spot the big flashing sign that says “this is absolutely ridiculous” deserves sacking on the spot.


‘The Number 10 unit were told to think of anything, and some of the ideas that came up were ridiculous and were dismissed out of hand.’



But the source confirmed that proposals on reforming public nudity laws were still under consideration as draft legislation is prepared.

‘There is a debate to be had about this. Already in law, nudity is allowed in certain places, like nudist beaches. There is an issue in law about when people are nude but not intending to cause distress to others.

‘They are not flashing, but some people are being arrested for it. Is that the best way of dealing with this issue?’ the source said.

Of lowering the age of consent, a spokesman for Mr Clegg said: ‘The proposal that you refer to was put forward at official level without any political input and as soon as it came to the attention of political advisers it was rejected out of hand.’


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