Education Secretary rejects call for smacking ban in England

The Westminster Government has no plans to criminalise parents who give their child “a light smack”, Nadhim Zahawi has said.

In an interview with Times Radio, Zahawi dismissed the call by Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza for a smacking ban in England.

In Wales, following the introduction of The Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020 last month, parents who tap a toddler on the behind risk arrest and a criminal record.

‘Trust parents’

De Souza expressed admiration for the ban in Wales and said: “I would be supportive – certainly, from what I’ve seen so far – I would be supportive if our government decided to do the same”.

In response to Dame Rachel’s comments, Zahawi told Times Radio: “My very strong view is that actually we have got to trust parents on this and parents being able to discipline their children is something that they should be entitled to do.

“We have got to just make sure we don’t end up in a world where the state is nannying people about how they bring up their children.”

He also said that his wife had occasionally disciplined their nine-year-old daughter with “a light smack on the arm, if she’s completely naughty and misbehaving”.

Reasonable chastisement

A spokesman for the pro-parent group Be Reasonable said: “Parents across England will welcome the Education Secretary’s common sense response to calls to criminalise a mild smack on the bum.

Westminster needs to stick to its guns and not be manipulated into criminalising decent parents

“The Children’s Commissioner says she wants to see how the ban works out in Wales. But we’ve seen enough already to know that criminalising parents for tapping a tot on the back of the legs is a terrible idea.

“Despite denying for years that the ban would criminalise parents, the Welsh Government has issued guidance making clear that parents who use even the mildest physical discipline ‘could be charged with common assault’ and ‘may get a criminal record’.

“This is outrageous. You may not agree with smacking but would you criminalise parents who do?” He added: “Westminster needs to stick to its guns and not be manipulated into criminalising decent parents.”