British Politician: Sex With Sleeping Women Not Rape But 'Might Be Really Bad Manners

British MP George Galloway is in hot water for saying that having sex with a sleeping woman isn't technically "rape" during a British radio broadcast, Business Insider reports. Among other things, he argues that "not everybody needs to be asked prior to each insertion."

Galloway was defending Wikileaks creator Julian Assange when he made the remarks during an episode of his "Good Night" podcast posted on August 18.

The New Statesman has provided a transcript of the outrageous comments:

Let's take woman A. Woman A met Julian Assange, invited him back to her flat [apartment], gave him dinner, went to bed with him, had consensual sex with him. Claims that she woke up to him having sex with her again. This is something which can happen, you know.

I mean not everybody needs to be asked prior to each insertion. Some people believe that when you go to bed with somebody, take off your clothes, and have sex with them and then fall asleep, you're already in the sex game with them.

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 really sordid and bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape or you bankrupt the term rape of all meaning. . .

It is one thing to defend Assange as not guilty, but to argue that sex with a sleeping woman is anything other than rape is offensive and out of line.

Many in the UK agree as Galloway's comments have reportedly sparked widespread outrage. The Telegraph's Tom Chiver's writes that "the situation Galloway has just described is absolutely, 100 per cent, no-ifs-or-buts definitely rape." Rape charity Crisis, a British non-profit organization, has called Galloway's comments "offensive" and says his argument is completely "factually incorrect."

Business Insider has more on Galloway's background:

An MP for the fledgling Respect party in Bradford West, Galloway has been a high profile figure in British politics for decades now, and has been at at the center of many controversial moments. He is known for a strident pro-Palestine and anti-US position. He became notorious in the UK for his 2006 appearance in the reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother.

Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden due to sexual crimes allegedly committed in the country. He was due to be extradited from the UK to face questioning but fled to the Ecuadorean Embassy in June and has since been granted asylum.

If you don't believe that a politician could actually say something so indefensible, take a listen for yourself. Galloway begins talking about Assange and his views on rape at about 21:40: