Paragraph 22 of Home Office circular 017/2008
includes the following sentence: “It is important always to take account of the child's reactions, and his or her perceptions, according to the child's age and understanding”. I truly fail to understand how any reasonable person does not understand the direction to always take account of a child’s “perceptions” and their “understanding” as another way of referring to a child’s ability to make an informed choice. In fact, in the context of sexual assault, the inclusion of that particular sentence in the circular was entirely wrong because, as a matter of law, children under the age of 16 cannot give consent. For all relevant purposes, the BBC is engaging in semantics and sophistry.