Ken Clarke: what did he actually say about rape?

Justice secretary Ken Clarke is at the centre of a political storm after comments he made about rape while outlining government proposals to halve the sentences of some criminals if they plead guilty.

There was outrage after he gave a series of interviews this morning about the new policy. Talking to Sky News (above) he accused the media of concentrating on rape as it added "sexual excitement" to headlines about the story and also spoke about "classic" rape cases, where a women is attacked out of the blue.

Earlier he differentiated between "serious" and other types of rape during an interview with BBC Radio 5, in which he suggested that date rape was not the same as "the worst rapes".

Asked why sentences were on average only five years he explained: "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."

Then, after he was asked whether "rape is rape", he replied: "No, it is not."

His remarks led to calls for him to resign from Labour leader Ed Miliband, while there was predictable uproar on social networking sites.

However, Clarke later made a second appearance on Sky News where he said he was "astonished" by the reaction to his original comments. ·