Government defends stance on sex trafficking after Archbishop of York intervenes

The coalition has come under attack from Labour MPs and campaigners including the Archbishop of York for not signing up to the draft directive.

The act is aimed at co-ordinating efforts across EU countries and will allow the prosecution of offenders in one state for offences committed in others.

Mrs May insisted that "most of the elements" in the directive were already being adopted in the UK.

During Commons question time, Labour's Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton NE) asked: "If the Home Secretary and the Government are serious about reducing and eradicating violence against women, why is it that only recently the Government has decided to opt out of a new European directive to combat human trafficking?"

Mrs May replied: "I'm happy to say that we are indeed committed to ensuring that we take action against violence against women.

"I would remind you that the last Labour government took 12 years to develop a strategy on violence against women. This Government will produce our strategy on ending violence against women within one year of coming into office and it will cover a wide range of subjects."

Mrs May said there was a "simple approach" to EU directives: "Is signing up to a particular directive to the benefit of the UK or not?"

Labour former Europe minister Denis MacShane (Rotherham) pointed to critical remarks made by the Archbishop of York. Dr John Sentamu wrote in the Yorkshire Post on Saturday that the Government's decision to stay out of the directive was "seriously flawed".

Mr MacShane told Mrs May: "The point is to send a signal to the pimps and the traffickers which are operating at a European level ...

"Don't stand on the side of the pimps and the traffickers, stand with the Archbishop of York."

The Home Secretary said: "Most of the elements of the EU human trafficking directive actually are things that are being adopted already here in the UK because this is an issue that we all take very seriously."