Tag Archives: sexual health

Richard Wingfield

Opinion: Why Liberal Democrats should support lowering the age of consent

By Richard Wingfield | Sat 23rd November 2013 - 2:30 pm

Liberal Democrats have long-championed the rights of young people. We were the first major party to call for the voting age to be lowered to 16. We were the only party in 2010 which committed to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into UK law. In government, we have ended the detention of children for immigration purposes. But in one area of personal freedom and development, we remain distinctly illiberal: the age of consent.

In response to the recent calls from Professor John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, to lower the age of consent …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 29 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • George Thomas
    "Devolving more responsibilities means little if Wales isn’t given the funding.." In recent history we've seen Westminster refuse to put up the money in ra...
  • Denis Loretto
    At our Autumn conference once again a series of highly detailed policies covering pages of agenda will be earnestly debated and (mainly) passed. They will then ...
  • theakes
    My post sort of started this flurry of "change the leader" postings. So here goes again just a personal view but Daisy Cooper fits the bill as much as any one,...
  • Anthony Acton
    In 2024 when most voters would rather have voted for anyone but the disgraced and discredited Tories, Ed went down well. Two years on, a lot more is needed than...
  • Neil Sandison
    Stephen Yolland and Carl Pierce are right if our largest numbers of MPs and Councillors are not getting our message across then is is about leadership and if t...