Wednesday 18th May 2011 | 12:10

Miliband calls for Clarke sacking

Ed Miliband has called for Justice Secretary Ken Clarke to resign in the wake of his comments about rape this morning.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Miliband said that following his comments which appeared to differentiate between certain kinds of rape,  "the Justice Secretary should not be in his post by the end of today".

The Labour leader said: "The role of the Justice Secretary is to speak for the nation on matters of justice and crime. This morning the Justice Secretary was on the radio suggesting that there were serious rapes and other categories of rapes. Would the Prime Minister now like to take this opportunity to distance himself from the Justice Secretary’s comments."

 

David Cameron replied that he had not yet heard the interview being quoted, but that the most damning statistic in terms of rape was that only 6% of cases were reported in the first place.

"Rape is one of the most serious crimes that there is and it should be met with proper punishment.. Anyone who’s ever met a rape victims and talked to them about what that experience means to them and how it stays with them for the rest of their life could only want to have the most serious punishment possible. The real disgrace in our country is that only 6% of rapes that are reported to a police station end in a conviction.

"I have not heard the Justice Secretary's interview, but the position of the Government is very clear -  that there is an offence called rape and anyone who commits it should be prosecuted, convicted and punished very severely."

Mr Miliband replied that the Prime Minister should listen to Mr Clarke's comments and act on them. He

"The Prime Minister, when he leaves this chamber should  go and look at the comments of the Justice Secretary, and let me just say this to him very clearly - the Justice Secretary should not be in his post by the end of today. That’s the first thing he should do.

"The second thing he has to do is to drop this policy because this policy that they are defending is the idea that if you plead guilty to rape you get your sentenced halved. That could meant that rapists spend as little as 15 months in prison.  That is not an acceptable policy and the Prime Minister should drop it."

Mr Miliband also claimed: "The Justice Secretary cannot speak for the women of this country when he makes comments like that."

Mr Cameron accused Mr Miliband of "jumping to conclusions" on the issue, given that there was still a consultation into sentencing going on.

Mr Miliband in turn claimed, that "as on health, when there's a terrible policy, the Prime Minister just hides behind the consultation". he then listed a number of groups he claimed were opposed to the policy of reducing sentences.

"The judges are saying the policy is wrong, End Violence Against Women is saying it’s the wrong policy and his own victims' commissioner says the policy is bonkers, I’d like to hear his view on this policy, which should be dropped...

"He was out of touch on anonymity for rape victims and now he's out of touch on sentencing for rape victims. He's cutting the number of police, cutting 12,000 police officers. Whyd odnes't he go back to the drawing board on crime and get rid of his Justice Secretary?"

Mr Cameron also pointed out that the idea of plea bargaining was far from unique to the UK, with more draconian legal systems such as the US using it extensively.

"The aim of plea bargaining, and it is worth remembering, because plea bargaining is used in systems including very tough criminal justice systems like America and the aim of plea bargaining is to make sure that more people get prosecuted, more people get convicted and you actually save the victim having to go through a court process and find out at the end that the culprit is going to submit a guilty plea."

Mr Cameron said he was delighted that Tony Blair’s former speechwriter Peter Hyman was opening a free school. “I welcome the free schools policy and I very much welcome what Peter Hyman is doing in trying to establish a free school.”

He quoted Andy Burnham saying that he was opposed to the free schools policy but not to every free school.

“We’re back to Old Labour”, he said.

Mr Cameron said the Queen’s visit to Ireland was “remarkable” and a testimony to the strength of the relationship between Britain and Ireland.

“The relationship between Britain and the Republic of Ireland is strong and probably has never been stronger... I think the scenes on our television screen last night of the visits that her majesty made to heal the wounds of the past but also to look to a very bright future between our two countries are remarkable and hugely welcome”.

Banks

The Prime Minister said he would “look carefully” at proposals to give taxpayers’ shares in banks taken over by the state.

“I will certainly look at all the possible ways of putting the banks that are nationalised back into the private sector... Also we’ve got to make sure we secure value for money for the taxpayer.”

Scotland

The Prime Minister said holding a referendum on Scottish independence from the SNP would be a “retrograde step” but the Government would support it if they wanted to hold one.

NHS

Mr Cameron said Mark Britnell, who was alleged to have said there was a lot of opportunity for business in the NHS reforms, was actually a Labour advisor.

“I’ve never heard of this person in my life and he’s not my advisor. But I did a little bit of research and it turns out he was an advisor to the last Government.

“He helped developed Labour’s NHS plan in 2000, increased the role of the private sector, he was appointed by labour as the Chief Executive of one of the ten strategic health authorities set up by Labour.

“And when the leader of the opposition was in the cabinet Mark Britnell was director general for commissioning in the NHS.

“So, while I don’t know him I suspect members opposite probably know him rather well.”

Nuclear

The Prime Minister said the Government was committed to nuclear deterrents.

“The Government’s policy is absolutely clear; we are committed to maintaining an independent nuclear deterrent based on Trident.” Asked by Conservative MP Dr Julian Lewis if he agreed that there should be a cross-party alliance similar to the No to AV campaign devoted to maintaining Trident, he said he hoped it could be an issue above “party politics”.

“It would be better if we could elevate this issue over party politics and indeed when we voted to go ahead with Trident it was on the basis of a Labour motion that was supported by most Labour MPs and supported by almost all, I believe, Conservative MPs.” After Labour MP Paul Flynn questioned why the Government was spending millions on a “national virility symbol” Mr Cameron said he did not accept his argument.

“The point of our nuclear deterrent is just that, it is a deterrent. It is the ultimate insurance policy against blackmail or attack by other countries and that is why I believe it is right to maintain it and indeed to replace it.”

EU

The Prime Minister assured Conservative MP James Clappison that the EU would not have control over tax powers.

“I think it’s very important we keep our competitive tax rates and we don’t give the European Union further coverage of our tax base.”

Conservative MP Margot James asked the Prime Minister for assurance that the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice would be reined it.

“Can the Prime Minister assure my constituents that he will use every ounce of his considerable personal authority to push back these overbearing institutions.”

The Prime Minister said the Government were “leading the process” of reforming the ECHR, adding:

“In terms of the ECJ one of the things we must do is stop the transfer of further powers from Westminster to Brussels and that’s why we’re putting in place the referendum lock.”

David Kelly

Mr Cameron ruled out an investigation into the death of Dr David Kelly.

“I thought the results of the inquest that were carried out and the report into it were very clear and I don’t think it’s necessary to take that case forward.”

Lords

The Prime Minister defended reforms to the House of Lords, but said he recognised “massive divisions” on the issue.