MPs are making a fresh push for a ban on parents smacking their children.

A cross-party group has tabled an amendment to legislation being debated in the Commons that would give youngsters the same protection against assault as adults.

But the Government is opposed to the change and rebel Labour MPs are angry that they have been refused a free vote on the issue unlike colleagues in other parties.

The move is being led by Kevin Barron, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons health select committee, who said the UK was out of step with other European countries.

He said: "We must act now to end the legal approval of hitting children. It is the responsibility of Parliament to ensure that the physical integrity and human dignity of every person is respected.

"The current law allowing so-called 'reasonable punishment' of children is unjust, unsafe and unclear, and must be abolished once and for all.

Full article here