THE UK’s children’s commissioners want a wholesale smacking ban as murdered ten-year-old Sara Sharif’s legacy.
They say the current situation with a legal defence in some home nations is “outdated and morally repugnant”.
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Wales made all corporal punishment, including smacking and shaking, illegal in 2022.
Scotland introduced a similar ban in 2020.
But it is not totally outlawed in England and Northern Ireland.
The Children Act 2004 says it is unlawful to hit your child, except where it is “reasonable punishment”, and this is judged case-by-case.
Sara’s murder in 2023 in Woking, Surrey, led to renewed calls for a UK-wide ban.
He father Urfan told police he did “legally punish” her and beat her “too much”. He and Sara’s stepmum Beinash Batool were jailed for life.
Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza said: “Let this be Sara’s legacy, that all children in the United Kingdom are given the same protection as anyone else.”
The commissioners of all four UK home nations made their pleas as the Children’s Well-being and Schools Bill was yesterday set for its second reading in the Lords.
