Ministers fall out over domestic violence Bill

The launch of the Government's clampdown on domestic violence was marred today as Home Secretary David Blunkett and Solicitor General Harriet Harman disagreed over a key issue.

Ms Harman wants the defence of "provocation" to be abolished in murder cases involving married couples or partners. But she admitted she had not been able to convince her government colleagues.

She claims male murderers of their female partners are able to get their offences reduced to manslaughter by claiming: "Yes I did it but it's not my fault, it's her fault because she provoked me."

Ms Harman's proposal would, she believes, affect a large number of cases where men kill women - but are convicted only of manslaughter after successfully applying the "provocation" defence. She claims many such cases effectively see the victim being unfairly blamed for her own death.

But Mr Blunkett is resisting the move, arguing that retaining the defence can help women - by offering legal protection to those who suddenly "snap" and kill their male partners after years of being abused by them.

He is pushing to keep the defence of provocation despite Ms Harman's belief that the number of cases where women's interests are protected by it are greatly outnumbered by the number of cases where they are harmed.

Today's Bill aims to tackle domestic violence which accounts for a quarter of all murders in Britain.

Controversial measures include court orders for suspected violent offenders keeping them away from their partners even if they have not been convicted.

Ministers also want to prevent parents accused of killing their children from escaping prosecution if it cannot be shown which one of them committed the crime.

Other features of the Bill include making common assault an arrestable offence and triggering multi-agency reviews in cases of domestic murder, as happens with child killings.

The Bill will establish a register for domestic violence offenders, forcing them to tell police when they change their addresses as sex offenders must do.

It will also introduce a ban on the media naming victims of alleged domestic violence in court cases in an effort to encourage more people to come forward with complaints.

A "victims' commissioner" to speak up for the interests of people affected by domestic violence will be established. Tony Blair has given his backing to the Bill, describing domestic violence as a crime that has remained "in the shadows" for far too long.

The clampdown will cover gay couples and unmarried heterosexuals as well as people who have never lived with their partners. Ms Harman said court orders to keep suspected violent partners away would be like "a yellow card". Anyone defying the order could face up to five years in prison.