Institute Update Issue 2 - May 2002

Delight at no smacking ban for England and Wales

By Mike Judge

The Government has announced that it will not change the law on smacking for England and Wales. The decision is a relief to family and parenting groups. The Christian Institute has campaigned against the proposals since they were first mooted in 2000.

The Government says it decided not to ban smacking after strong public opposition to the proposals. Seventy per cent of people who responded to the public consultation said they felt there was no need for a change in the law. (1) The Christian Institute informed supporters about the consultation and produced a briefing on the key points surrounding the issue.

Health minister, Jacqui Smith, said the new Human Rights Act protects children sufficiently. She said: “We do not believe that any further change to the law at this time would be appropriate – it would neither command widespread public support nor be capable of consistent enforcement.” (2)

However, the decision not to ban smacking drew condemnation from children’s charities. Mary Marsh, director of NSPCC, said the idea of allowing parents to chastise their own children was “Dickensian”. She said: “By failing to meet even the minimum standard set by the Scottish Executive, the Government is sending a dangerous message to parents that it is OK to hit children, even babies and toddlers.” (3)

But Iain Bainbridge of The Christian Institute said: “Rather than catching child abusers a ban would have resulted in police time being spent pursuing perfectly innocent and responsible parents who are simply raising their children in the way they see best.”

1 Department of Health Press Release, 8 November 2001
2 Loc cit
3 The Daily Telegraph, 9 November 2001

Back to Contents

This content requires the Adobe Flash Player. Download Adobe Flash Player here.