Men accused of rape will still be named: Coalition U-turn over pledge for anonymity

Reversal: Justice Minister Crispin Blunt says there is not sufficient evidence to justify a change in the law

Plans to give anonymity to men charged with rape were abandoned yesterday.



The decision marks a dramatic U-turn and abandons a key pledge in the Government’s coalition agreement.



Justice Minister Crispin Blunt announced the proposal would be ditched because there was not sufficient evidence to justify a change in the law.



But at the same time he published a report which revealed that between eight and 11 per cent of rape claims are fabricated.



Just 36 per cent of rape trials result in a rape conviction and more than half result in no conviction at all, even for a lesser offence.



That fuelled accusations last night that the Government had caved in to a chorus of protests from women’s groups and Labour MPs.



Women who accuse a man of rape will continue to receive anonymity, a legal right they have had for 35 years.



Meanwhile more than 200 men every year who face false claims will continue to have their reputations damaged.



Victims of false claims such as snooker player Quinten Hann, who was acquitted in 2002, have seen their lives derailed by false accusations.

The reverse is embarrassing for David Cameron, who endorsed plans to give men anonymity between arrest and charge at Prime Minister’s Question Time in June.

But even that limited protection was ditched yesterday. In a ministerial statement yesterday, Mr Blunt said: ‘The Coalition Government made it clear from the outset that it would proceed with defendant anonymity in rape cases only if the evidence justifying it was clear and sound, and in the absence of any such finding it has reached the conclusion that the proposal does not stand on its merits.’



Mr Blunt said there was not enough evidence to overcome concerns that ‘the inability to publicise a person’s identity will prevent further witnesses to a known offence from coming forward, or further unknown offences by the same person from coming to light’.



From the Mail on May 21

Officials say Attorney General Dominic Grieve has been a supporter of the policy of anonymity for men. But one source said Mr Blunt and his boss, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke, had taken ‘the path of least resistance’ by abandoning the plans.



The policy was included in the coalition agreement because the Tories believed it was formal Lib Dem policy before the election, but Nick Clegg’s party claimed to be surprised by the inclusion. The plan created a backlash in Westminster from feminist Labour MPs.



Shadow minister for women and equality Yvette Cooper said: ‘It was a deeply unfair plan to single out rape defendants to remain anonymous and would have sent a message to juries and to victims that uniquely in rape cases the victim should not be believed.’



But George McAulay, of the UK Men’s Movement pressure group, said: ‘I can’t say I’m surprised by this because the feminist lobby is extremely powerful.’