Imposing 'loving discipline' on children is not abuse and should not be criminalised: TUV

​Parents imposing “loving discipline” on children is very different from abuse and should not be criminalised in Northern Ireland, according to the TUV.
By Mark Rainey and PA
Published 17th Apr 2024, 18:35 BST
A young child holding an anti-smacking placard on the march to Downing Street in 2004. Photo: Rebecca Naden/PA WireA young child holding an anti-smacking placard on the march to Downing Street in 2004. Photo: Rebecca Naden/PA Wire
A young child holding an anti-smacking placard on the march to Downing Street in 2004. Photo: Rebecca Naden/PA Wire

Following calls for a UK-wide ban on smacking, a TUV spokesperson said the party “supports the right of parents to discipline their children”.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said the current law in England and Northern Ireland has created "grey areas," which mean there is sometimes a defence to physical punishment.

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Wales made any type of corporal punishment, including smacking, hitting, slapping and shaking, illegal in March 2022, while Scotland introduced a similar ban in November 2020.

However, the TUV said: “Criminalising parents is not a road we should be going down and the fact of the matter is that the law already protects children from violence and abuse.

"Suggesting there is a grey area between loving discipline and abuse gives very little credit to our courts and risks creating a Big Brother state.”

The TUV spokesperson added: "There is an abundance of research showing that reasonable chastisement does not harm a child.

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"Furthermore, such a change in the law will result in genuine cases of abuse being missed, making the job of the police and social services more difficult to detect cases."

The RCPCH said amendments to the Children Act 2004 for England and the Law Reform Order 2006 for Northern Ireland "to remove the 'reasonable punishment' defence from all UK law are long overdue".

Its report on the issue argued that ahead of a general election, this is a time for all political parties to "make meaningful commitments on this important children's rights issue".

Professor Andrew Rowland, the RCPCH officer for child protection, said: "The laws around physical punishment as they stand are unjust and dangerously vague”.

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In response, Treasury minister Laura Trott said the law in England is already clear – that any abuse of children is “completely unacceptable”.

Asked by Sky News if she would support plans to make smacking illegal in England and Northern Ireland, Ms Trott said: "We obviously have very clear laws in this country about abuse of children.

"They are very clearly set out in the Children Act, but it is for parents to discipline their children."

Asked if she agrees with paediatricians that the current law is vague, she added: "It is very clear that any abuse of children is completely unacceptable.”

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Ms Trott added: "We have been working very hard to make sure all the agencies involved with children are really cracking down on abuse, that there are clear guidelines involved."

Simon Calvert, from the Be Reasonable Campaign, claimed calls for a law change “are motivated by ideology, not by clinical evidence, and elected representatives must reject them”.

A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland department of health said any decision to amend the legal position there “will require the agreement of the Northern Ireland Executive”.