All UK schools should give children sex education lessons from the age of seven, the Liberal Democrats have said.

David Laws, Minister of State for schools, said that both primary and secondary schools should be required to provide sex and relationship education, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The Liberal Democrats want to lower the age at which children are given sex education lessons from 11 to seven, while extending the requirement to hold the classes to all free schools and academies. At present academies and free schools are exempt from having to hold the lessons, which Mr Laws warned is “depriving children of important life lessons”.

He said that the Conservatives have blocked the Liberal Democrat plans, which will appear in their manifesto.

He said:“We have long made the case, both inside and outside government, for updated sex and relationship education to be taught in all schools, including academies and free schools, but it is not something the Conservatives are open to. We believe that by educating children about sex and relationships in an appropriate way, we can help them to make informed choices in their personal lives.

Bu the Christian Institute’s Director Colin Hart commented: “Under the Lib Dems’ dangerous plans, sex education would be centralised and power would be taken away from school governors. It would be put in the hands of groups that promote the use of resources which are wholly unsuitable for young children.

Schools are already being recommended these resources, and if the Lib Dems get their way, our concern is that schools would be expected to use them.

In a sex-saturated culture, schools should be one place where children are allowed to get on with life without facing pressure to deal with things they aren’t ready for. At a time when there is growing alarm at the sexualisation of childhood, using sexually explicit resources in schools can surely only make things much worse. Too often in this area, schools can undermine the positive values of the home and sideline parents.”

Under current regulations, parents are able to take their children out of sex education classes if they do not approve. A Department for Education source said: “We trust teachers rather than bureaucrats in Whitehall to decide how best to deliver relationship education in their schools.

“Ofsted already expects schools to look at the risks associated with exploitation and relationships, so it is difficult to see how schools could avoid teaching this.”

Last week a survey found that sending sexually explicit pictures by mobile phone is now part of everyday life for almost half of teenagers.

Eight out of 10 18-year-olds now believe that pornography is too easy to access, including by accident, and six in 10 admit that its pervasiveness made the process of growing up more difficult for them. Two thirds of British teenagers now believe that people today are “too casual” about sex and relationships.

The study for the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), a think tank, found that many older teenagers even blame adults for failing to do enough to discourage them from rushing into sex or counter the influence of pornography.

Some spoke of feeling “pressured” into sex by teachers through rushed and awkward sex education lessons promoting the message that it is “normal” to have sex before the age of consent as long as contraception is used.