HOME  |  RADIO  |   TELEVISION   | TOOLBAR
David Lammy Wants Smacking Laws Relaxed 30th January 2012 Tottenham MP David Lammy says legislation surrounding the smacking of children needs to be relaxed. Mr Lammy believes this will enable working-class parents to instil discipline in their homes without fearing prosecution. He even claimed Labour's 2004 decision to tighten up the smacking law was partly to blame for last summer's riots, which started in his constituency. The former education minister said: "Many of my constituents came up to me after the riots and blamed the Labour Government, saying: 'You guys stopped us being able to smack our children'. "I have to say when this was first raised with me I was pretty disparaging. But I started to listen. These parents are scared to smack their children and paranoid that social workers will get involved and take their children away." Mr Lammy, who has also admitted smacking his three and five-year-old sons, said working-class parents should be able to physically discipline their children to prevent them from joining gangs. Currently, The Children Act of 2004 prevents parents from smacking their children leading to a "reddening of the skin". Mr Lammy says many parents in his constituency are confused by the changes and, as a result, are reluctant to physically discipline their children in case they are contacted by social workers. Credits: Haringey
David Lammy Wants Smacking Laws Relaxed