The Hamiltons were accused in a blaze of publicity

Shadow home office minister Dominic Grieve said some individuals had been subject to "massive media scrutiny and adverse publicity" even though they were never charged.

He made the appeal during report stage debate of the Sexual Offences Bill in the House of Commons, but it was defeated by 276 votes to 158 - government majority 118.

We have decided to raise the penalty for the grooming offence ... to enable appropriate sentences to be passed in the most serious cases Home Office spokeswoman Web 'grooming' sentences upped

Mr Grieve said he had been prompted to speak after the "public disquiet" generated by a recent spate of high profile cases.

He said one way of overcoming this would be to impose a prohibition on any publicity, which allowed the identification of someone before being charged.

Media scrutiny

The issue became topical after sexual assault charges against the TV presenter John Leslie were dropped in the summer.

Former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine were accused of rape but the case later collapsed.

Charges were never brought against Matthew Kelly, the presenter of ITV's Stars in Their Eyes, after his arrest in January in connection with sex abuse claims dating from the 1970s, which he strenuously denied.

Sir David Calvert-Smith, who stepped down as director of public prosecutions on Friday, also called for anonymity for those accused of serious sex offences in an interview with The Independent newspaper.

Mr Grieve stressed that excessive media scrutiny could prejudice a fair trial and lead to it being abandoned.

Children

While an agreement with broadcasters and the media may prevent the worst "excesses", it would not tackle the growth of the internet and the way it was used to identify suspects, he said.

Annette Brooke, for the Liberal Democrats, called for anonymity "up to the point of charge" for suspects of abuse in children's homes.

While she welcomed discussions with the police and media, she added: "We have no confidence whatsoever in a high profile case that whatever voluntary agreement is reached will necessarily be upheld."

But former Tory minister Douglas Hogg said he was "cautious" about suspects being given anonymity, citing the case of a footballer who used the media to distance himself from sex attack claims.

"He sought out publicity to say he wasn't the footballer against whom allegations are being made."

Brothels

But Junior Home Office Minister Paul Goggins urged against pre-empting the possibility of the voluntary route working by trying to force the legislative one first.

In further debate, he also outlined government plans to raise the maximum prison sentence for keeping a brothel from three months to seven years.

This would help the police to "tackle the serious sexual exploitation that occurs of adults involved in prostitution", he said.

The proposals would not affect establishments such as commercial gay saunas, he told the Commons.

The minister ruled out calls for people who paid for sex with 16 and 17 year olds to be punished as severely as those who did so with youngsters under the age of consent.

Naturists

He said the government was determined to tackle the "despicable" trade of sex tourism , but new measures to clamp down on paedophiles travelling abroad to abuse children would not cover those aged 16 or over.

Sex with a child under 13 would automatically be classed as rape and carry a maximum life sentence.

In addition, the bill includes a risk of sexual harm order, which proposes that those registered as sex offenders would be required to confirm their details annually.

Similarly, the period within which an offender should notify the register of any changes would be reduced from 14 days to three.

However, there was good news for naturists, after Solicitor General Harriet Harman introduced an amendment to the bill to prevent them being prosecuted for taking their clothes off.

Naturists had expressed concern they could be prosecuted for walking around naked, but Ms Harman said the legislation was being changed to ensure "genuine naturist activity" did not lead to prosecution.