Parents Would Be Jailed For Smacking Children
Sky
News | July 5 2004
Comment: The State will now be rearing
your children. Bisexuals running sex education lessons teaching 6-year-olds
how to masturbate and 'experiment' with members of the same sex. But can
parents choose how to discipline their own kids? Oh no. People who intentionally
hurt children are already criminals and a law will not stop them from doing
it! This only affects law-abiding parents. The irony is that all these liberals
calling for Blair's nanny state to be beefed up to save the children are
the same ones advocating aborting little babies who it is now
proven can smile, yawn and run their eyes in the earliest stages of
pregnancy.
Parents could be jailed if they discipline
their children with anything more than a light slap.
The House of Lords will debate the issue later today when
it looks at updating the defence of reasonable chastisement.
But the Government is refusing to allow an outright ban
fearing it may lead to a flood of legal claims.
It is backing a "middle road" strategy.
The new law would allow mild smacks but prohibit excessive
punishment.
Health Secretary Dr John Reid has said he believed most
people would back the Government's approach.
But anti-smacking campaigners have accused Ministers of
letting children down.
Tony Blair and Education Secretary Charles Clarke have
decided to allow a free vote on a proposal to limit the use of the traditional
defence of "reasonable chastisement".
The proposal is contained in an amendment to the Bill tabled
by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Lester of Herne Hill.
Under Lord Lester's amendment, any parent who inflicted
actual bodily harm on a child could be prosecuted and would no longer have
the protection of the reasonable chastisement defence, which dates back
to 1860.
"When a parent smacks a child, they are to some extent
losing control," said Lord Lester.
"Under my amendment, parents will still be able to
smack their children if they don't harm them physically or mentally."
A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said
a wide-ranging ban on smacking would be "an unwarranted intrusion into
family life".
