Yes it does, tony. Let me try to explain properly as my first answer perhaps did not make clear what I was trying to say.
Sexual intercourse with a girl under aged 16 is “unlawful sexual intercourse” (USI). The definitions are here:
http://www.cps.gov.uk...on_of_unlawful_sexual
Note that there is a distinction between those under 16 and those under 13.
If you scroll down you will see a section headed “charging practice”. Here you will see the paragraph:
“A charge of unlawful sexual intercourse will normally be appropriate if a girl consents in fact to intercourse but she is under the statutory ages in sections 5 and 6 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956.”
Important for this argument is that the paragraph from the “charging practice” clearly says that a charge of USI (not rape) is appropriate for girls under 16 who give their consent "in fact". It does not concern itself with assault and nor it should. One of the elements of the offence of assault is violence (or threat of violence) against a person against their will. Clearly if they have given their consent to being touched (which a girl aged under 16 can give) then no assault can have occurred.
Thusfar, this has had nothing to do with rape, but only concerns itself with USI.
Rape is intercourse without consent. “Statutory Rape” is not an offence in itself recognised in UK law but is used to describe a charge of rape where consent has been given but that consent is deemed legally invalid. You can see from above that a girl aged under 16 can give her consent "in fact" and if she does a charge of rape is not normally appropriate. However, if the girl is under 13 the matter is treated differently and so the offence of Rape is established. There are plenty of other places you can find out about this in greater detail.
The upshot of all this is that intercourse with a girl aged over 13 but under 16 (who consents) is most unlikely to result in a charge of rape (although the law does provide for it). Consensual intercourse with a girl aged under 13 is almost certain to result in a charge of rape.
We’ll have to agree to differ over the qualities of Mr. Clarke. However his “different types of rape” statement was correct, if clumsily put. A glance at judges’ sentencing guidelines will confirm that whilst “rape is rape” there is a wide variety of circumstances that differentiate between the nature and seriousness of individual offences:
http://www.cps.gov.uk...ncing_manual/s1_rape/