Politicians who attempt to alter the common definition and understanding of rape should not be surprised if their comments create a storm of reaction.

Bradford West MP George Galloway will have done a great deal of harm to his credibility in the eyes of women voters with his comments regarding his beliefs around the Julian Assange situation.

And the most ridiculous thing about the controversy he has created with his ill-chosen words is that it was completely unnecessary.

It would surely have been enough for him to say that the allegations have been exaggerated and that he believes, as he claims, that the situation had “all the hallmarks of a set-up” without having to engage in any debate about how exactly rape is defined.

The fact that he did, and the way in which he did, will win him no credit and is likely to do a great deal of harm to his reputation.

His attempt to clarify what he meant does not seem to have had much impact if the comments locally and nationally are anything to go by.

His few supporters will say that his words have been taken out of context, but the context is irrelevant in terms of his references to rape.

Talk of etiquette and manners has no place at all in this discussion.

Sex without consent is rape. Full stop.

That’s a message that everyone – no matter what their gender, their politics, their race, their colour, their creed or their religion – needs to understand.