Katie, It's time to name

It seems that one or two people have got a little bit hot under the collar following a tweet that I made on twitter yesterday regarding Katie Price.

Since her split from husband Peter Andre the tabloids have been dominated by who is the celebrity who is alledged to have 'raped' Katie Price.

Let me be absolutely clear, the tweet wasn't designed to poke fun at Katie or rape suffers. The reason why I made the tweet is because there is a serious element which shouldn't be ignored but hasn't been mentioned to date in the media but hope it has been provoked as I don't find celebraties making rape allegations in newspapers funny or makes intersting reading.

Firstly is that the alledged 'rape' was supposed to have happened years ago but has only come into the spotlight as Katie embarks on a charm offensive following her well publicised public ending of her marridge.

Secondly this has the hallmarks of the John Leslie incident some years back when Ulrika Johnsson made a rape allegation in her autobiograpry.

Thirdly and most importantly, Katie Price is doing no favours to those that have genuinely been victims of rape in encouraging them to come forward, report the incident to the police and bring those guilty to justice.

The police at present find it very difficult to take rape cases through the courts and gain a successful conviction. At present less than half of rape cases result in a successful conviction.

Many people follow Katie's antics on TV and through the media and Katie for me, isn't presenting herself as a beacon for rape victims.

The stat that I mention above is disturbing and does need addressing which I think allowing victims to remain anonymous has helped but more clearly needs to be done. What we can not have is trials by media as this not only hinders any successful conviction. This is why it is time for Katie to name.

I have always said that I would never shy away from talking about the serious issues of the day. We politicians are regularly accused of not giving an answer or having a view on issues but criticised when we do. This for me is why a lot of us politicians have been dubed bland.

Update: Had a intresting chat with Echo reporter Geoff Percival who believes that the Katie Price alledged rape allegation is bogus. I wonder if he will add this into the piece that he puts into tomorrow's Echo?