George Galloway clarifies 'bad sexual etiquette' rape comments about Julian Assange case

Galloway, the MP for Bradford West, and leader of the Respect Party, said Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, who is currently holed up at the Ecuadorian embassy after being granted asylum, wasn't guilty of rape 'by any reasonable person's definition' and suggested that Assange was at worst guilty of 'bad sexual etiquette'.

"Not everybody needs to be asked prior to each insertion," said Galloway in a podcast.

"It might be really bad manners not to have tapped her on the shoulder and said, 'do you mind if I do it again?' It might be... bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape or you bankrupt the term rape of all meaning."

But in a statement today, Galloway said: "No never means yes and non-consensual sex is rape. There's no doubt about it and that has always been my position,"

However he maintained his position that the case in Sweden had "all the hallmarks of a set-up".

"I don't believe, from what we know, that the Director of Public Prosecutions would sanction a prosecution in Britain," he added.

"What occurred is not rape as most people understand it. And it's important to note that the two women involved did not initially claim it."

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