Balls signals rethink of smacking ban as people's 'attitudes evolve'

By Cathy Wallace Wednesday, 24 October 2007

Children's Secretary Ed Balls has given the strongest indication to date that a gov ernment rethink on banning the smacking of children may be on the cards.

Ed Balls

Speaking at the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Bournemouth last week, Balls said society is changing its attitude to the physical punishment of children.

"Most parents, if you ask them whether they smack children and thought it was right, would say it wasn't," Balls said. "If you ask them if the government should make it illegal, they would say they shouldn't. But this is a big change from 10 or 20 years ago."

He added: "In society, attitudes are evolving, but we need to listen hard to all parts of the community. And if anybody is harming a child, they should be dealt with severely."

John Coughlan, joint president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, said: "I thought I heard some signals about hitting children, which I have never heard before."

Coughlan said he felt Balls had indicated the debate around hitting children had moved on and he hoped the government would reconsider its position, which has been until now to refuse to outlaw smacking.

"If you asked people should we have capital punishment, you might get a 'yes', whereas what we have now (from government) is progressive leadership on a complicated issue," he said.

"That's a very extreme comparison of course. But I think there needs to be a child-centred approach on leading this issue on, before society will reflect what has happened and how we will develop. I was interested to hear Ed Balls is not closing the door, but I would like to think they will reconsider now rather than in five or 10 years time."

Helen Goodman, deputy leader of the House of Commons, recently pledged to fight for the government to give MPs a free vote on the issue (CYP Now, 3-9 October). Previous attempts to outlaw smacking have been defeated after the government decided to order its MPs to oppose the move.