McFadden: Staggered age of consent will be discussed to end abuses of power

Detailed summary

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the country has been ‘appalled by the abuse of power by powerful men’.

It comes after a woman waived her right to anonymity to publicly claim she was raped by Brand as a 16-year-old schoolgirl, and follows separate reporting of a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by Walliams when she was 15.

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”.

Speaking on Sky News’s Sunday Morning With David Olusoga programme, he 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.

“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.”

He added: “What we’ll definitely do is think about whatever we can do to help people at the wrong end of these abuses of power.

“We’re already changing the nature of NDAs, which are used to silence people in the workplace on these issues.

“People have a right, young women have a right to feel safe at work, to come in and do their job, and not be at the mercy of powerful men abusing their position and their authority.”

Under UK law, adults of any age are legally able to have sex with 16 and 17-year-olds.

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