Key Highlights:
- Lucy Beaumont is calling for UK age-of-consent laws to criminalise sex between adults aged 20 or over and 16-year-olds, and adults aged 21 or over and 17-year-olds.
- Beaumont has backed the Close the Consent Age Gap Campaign, which supports a maximum three-year age gap for sexual relationships involving 16- and 17-year-olds.
- Her comments follow her disclosure that she was among whistleblowers who raised concerns about David Walliams during an investigation by The Guardian and ITV News.
Lucy Beaumont Calls for Change to UK Consent Laws
Lucy Beaumont has urged the UK to change its age-of-consent laws, highlighting what she described as an “insane” situation in which a person still legally regarded as a child can have sex with a man in his 60s.
Beaumont shared a post on Instagram supporting reforms that would make it a criminal offence for anyone aged 20 or over to have sex with a 16-year-old, and for anyone aged 21 or over to have sex with a 17-year-old.
She wrote on Instagram: “If you have a 12-year-old daughter, in four years time a man in his 60s can legally have sex with her. It’s hard for me to write this and I’m sure for the majority of us it’s hard for us to read it.“But we have to. He is not a criminal. We can’t prosecute him.“BUT the insanity of it .. the law agrees with us; she’s still thought of as a child.“He can’t legally buy her a drink and he can’t have a nude image of her. But he can sleep with her.“And f**k her life up.””Who is the law protecting? #closetheagegap.”
Close the Consent Age Gap Campaign
Beaumont also shared a second post supporting the Close the Consent Age Gap Campaign. The group is seeking to change the law so that adults aged 20 or over cannot legally have sex with 16- or 17-year-olds unless the age difference is no more than three years.
The campaign group states on its website: “We are not trying to criminalise teenage relationships. We are trying to stop grown adults having legal sexual access to children.”
The proposal focuses on the age difference between the people involved rather than criminalising relationships between teenagers. Beaumont’s post called attention to the contrast between the legal age of consent and other restrictions affecting people under 18.
Beaumont’s Comments on David Walliams Investigation
Beaumont’s comments came after she revealed earlier in the week that she was one of the whistleblowers who raised concerns about David Walliams. The disclosure followed a three-year investigation by The Guardian and ITV News into allegations of sexual misconduct involving young women.
David Walliams denies the allegations and any suggestion of criminality in the report. In a statement, he said: “I am not a sexual predator.”
The investigation alleged that Walliams had engaged in sexual contact with a 15-year-old. Walliams denies the allegations.
Appearing on Sky News, Beaumont said a young staff member on a television programme where she was working had approached her and alleged that Walliams was bringing young women into his dressing room. Beaumont said the women were “definitely” over the age of 16 but that she believed they were vulnerable.
Beaumont said she had never personally witnessed poor behaviour by Walliams. However, she argued that television productions needed major improvements to their safeguarding procedures.
She said: “I did as much as I could do privately.“Whenever I’ve heard a rumour about anyone, I’ve done everything I can.“There’s only so much you can do. I’m not the police. Nothing seems to be illegal.”
She continued: “People are saying, ‘why tell journalists?’ There’s no HR department in TV. There’s no proper duty of care.“There’s no social services that you deal with and it’s partly because the industry is very well-managed.“These things slip through the net because, I think there will be now, but there hasn’t been a process that you can deal with.”
Why This Matters
The proposed legal changes would create stricter safeguards for 16- and 17-year-olds involved with significantly older adults while preserving the legality of teenage relationships with smaller age gaps. Beaumont’s intervention also links the debate over consent laws with wider concerns about safeguarding, reporting procedures and duty of care in the television industry.
Her remarks follow allegations involving David Walliams that he denies, and renewed attention on how concerns about conduct are handled when behaviour may not meet the threshold for a criminal offence. The Close the Consent Age Gap Campaign is seeking a specific change to the law based on the age difference between the individuals involved.
Frequently Asked Questions
What change to UK age-of-consent laws does Lucy Beaumont support?
Beaumont supports making it a criminal offence for anyone aged 20 or over to have sex with a 16-year-old, and for anyone aged 21 or over to have sex with a 17-year-old.
What is the Close the Consent Age Gap Campaign proposing?
The campaign wants sex between an adult aged 20 or over and a 16- or 17-year-old to be criminalised unless the age gap is no more than three years.
What has David Walliams said about the allegations?
David Walliams denies the allegations and any suggestion of criminality in The Guardian and ITV News investigation. He said: “I am not a sexual predator.”
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