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‘You don’t seem convinced.’

‘I’m not. To me, your position that women are little more thaninconveniently sentient bodies is plainly ridiculous.’

‘Is it though?’ Hunt countered. ‘You have to remember, for ninety-nine per cent of human history women didn’t get to choose their sexual partners. There was no such thing as dating. Women were given to men in arranged marriages or seized as spoils of war. This relatively recent cultural shift has left some men disenfranchised.’

Morgan picked up the book and flicked through it.

‘I understand you have a solution?’ she said.

Back in the gallery, Justine said, ‘She’s giving him an easier ride than I thought she would.’

‘She is,’ her husband replied. ‘That’s what’s worrying me.’

‘Me too.’

‘And she wouldn’t tell you what she has planned?’

Justine shook her head.

Allan stepped closer to the button that stopped the live transmission.

‘Our solution is simple,’ Hunt said. ‘We propose a complete overhaul of the Sexual Offences Act, specifically the sections relating to prostitution.’

‘That’s it?’ Morgan said. ‘You want to legalise brothels?’

‘No, but changing this draconian law is necessary for what’s to come. For our proposal to work we would need the sections relating to paying for sexual services, soliciting, advertising and controlling prostitution for gain, scrapped completely.’

‘So youdowant to legalise brothels?’

‘Not at all,’ Hunt said. ‘But we do want to revolutionise the sex market.’

‘I think you’d better explain.’

‘Monetising the sexual marketplace makes complete sense in this day and age. Everything else is for sale, why not sex? And given how much money is spent courting women, there would also be a steady and sizeable revenue stream for the government.’

‘You’re suggesting state-run prostitution?’

‘I most certainly am not. The government bungles even thesimplest of tasks. What we need is the invisible hand of the free market. This country’s strength has always been its entrepreneurs and we want them running the sexual marketplace.’

‘How would it work, Kane?’ Morgan asked. ‘Mega brothels? Legalised kerb crawling?’

‘A subscription sex service,’ Hunt replied. ‘Similar to Netflix or Amazon Prime. Men would pay a monthly fee and the women would get a stipend. The same way you might select a movie or a TV show now, depending on the package you’ve subscribed to, you would simply select the woman you want. They would be rated from one to five and the higher-rated ones would use up more of your credit. For example, a basic package might get a subscriber three hours of sex a month with a two-star woman, or five hours with a one-star. Not in a brothel, but in their homes. The premium packages would obviously attract longer hours with women of a higher rating.’

‘And who would rate the women? People like you?’

‘The market,’ Hunt explained. ‘And the subscribers would be rated too. The same way Uber drivers and customers rate each other. The lower your rating, the more you pay. Lower-rated women would obviously earn less than higher-rated ones, so it’s in everyone’s financial interests to make each session as satisfying as possible.’ Hunt picked up his glass and drank half the water. ‘And once the private sector gets involved, with their expertise in marketing, it will quickly become progressive and mainstream,’ he continued. ‘And although initially conceived as a service for incels, we would expect to see subscription sex services for the whole LGBTXYZ alphabet within two years.’

‘How commendable.’

‘You’re sceptical, but remember this: people said the same thing about internet dating. Now the market’s worth billions. And not only will this bring the government millions of pounds in tax revenue, it’s also a public health issue.’

‘How so?’

‘Women have to understand, if they keep kicking good dogs, eventually they’ll turn into bad dogs. We believe men beingdisenfranchised in the sexual marketplace is the leading cause of rape in the UK, and in the US it’s been linked to mass shootings. The policies contained within the manifesto address all this.’

‘You want to go to a break?’ Allan asked Justine. ‘Let Morgan regroup. Hunt kinda won that exchange. Internet datingismainstream now. Who’s to say this wouldn’t work?’

‘I say it,’ Justine replied. ‘All women say it. Anyone with a shred of decency should say it.’