Smacking will not be banned in England
MUMS and dads in England will not be stopped from smacking their youngsters, the Government says.
A ban is expected to come into force in Wales and Scotland. But ministers have said in England “loving parents” will be free to decide how to discipline their children.
Campaigners against a ban are delighted with the decision. But the NSPCC said it wants antismacking protection across the UK.
The Scottish Parliament voted 84 votes to 29 to end smacking last year. And last month the Welsh Assembly voted 36-14 to remove the defence of reasonable punishment. The new law will come into force in 2022.
The Welsh Government said: “If an adult physically punishes a child in their care after the law has changed they could be reported to the police.
“The action the police take will depend on the facts.”
Nearly 60 nations have barred physical chastisement of children.
However, education minister
Michelle Donelan said: “The Government does not wish to interfere in how loving families bring up their children. Legislation already exists to ban the beating of children by their parents. The defence of reasonable chastisement can only be used when a parent is accused of assault and not when the charge is actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm or child cruelty.”
Jamie Gillies of the Be Reasonable campaign, which opposes a smacking ban, said: “Parents in England will be relieved”.
He said: “Removing the reasonable punishment defence could land loving mums who use a light smack with a criminal record.”
However, Anna Edmundson, head of policy at the NSPCC, said: “We urge the Government to do the fair and sensible thing and give all children across the UK the same legal protection from assault as adults.”