PROPOSALS to slash the time that rapists and sex offenders spend in jail were met with outrage last night.

Politicians of all parties and rape charities were united against the plans to cut sentences by 15 per cent, a move put forward following claims that prison sentences were now more demanding.

The proposals were put forward by the Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC), which advises all courts in England and Wales.

The SGC also suggested that more men convicted of domestic violence could escape prison terms.

These proposals will now be put out to consultation.

But last night, Clare Phillipson, director of Wearside Women in Need, in Washington, said: "We are angry about these proposals.

"It shows how out of touch the judiciary are with how the public, and victims in particular, feel about the sentences that we give sex offenders - some of the most dangerous men in society.

"No one wants them to be let out of prison any earlier than they are. It is ludicrous to suggest that prison is any harder now."

She said the proposal sent out the wrong message to sex offenders.

"We are telling them that we don't think what they are doing is very bad," she said.

This view was echoed by Vera Baird, MP for Redcar - a barrister and rape victim campaigner.

She said: "The SGC is not part of the Government, it was set up to give independent recommendations to courts.

"I think this would be a retrograde step. It is sending out all the wrong messages.

"If somebody is raped, it frequently has a bad psychological effect. People often can't carry on working, they have huge difficulties forging new relationships.

"And if it happens to them in their home, they sometimes have to move house."

Mrs Baird said she would be responding to the consultation and copying it to relevant ministers, including Home Secretary Charles Clarke.

She added: "We have worked so hard to try to get domestic violence taken seriously. Convictions are going up, and I can't see how we can have gone through all that effort to now downgrade these crimes."

The report comes only days before the Home Office launches a campaign to encourage young men to ensure they have consent for sex - amid low conviction rates for rape cases in England and Wales. A radio and poster-led drive to help cut offences is to be launched today.

Ms Phillipson urged people across the North-East and North Yorkshire to write to their MPs.

"We need to put pressure on those idiots who have made these suggestions," she said.

Labour's John Denham, who chairs the home affairs select committee, said any move to cut sentences for sex crimes, such as rape, would not be popular.

He said he was very surprised that such a suggestion should be made and would want to look carefully at the evidence behind it.

"My sense would be that it would not be in tune with the public mood," he said.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "This proposal is wrong, both in the effect it will have and in the logic behind it.

"To suggest that today's prison regime is tougher than that of, say, 20 years ago is simply at odds with the facts.