Mike Crockart fails to get smacking ban support

CITY MP Mike Crockart has failed in his bid to persuade the Liberal Democrats to back moves to end smacking.

His call at the party’s spring conference in Dundee at the weekend for the defence of “reasonable chastisement” of children to be abolished, was defeated by 51 votes to 42.

Mr Crockart told the conference: “Hitting an adult is assault, hitting an animal is cruelty, so hitting a child can never be described as for their own good.”

But another Edinburgh delegate, Derek Young, said some child psychologists argued a light smack on rare occasions could produce positive results. “It can emphasise parents are serious, it can get kids’ attention, it can provide a clarity of focus and lead to better behaviour in adolescence and even better results at school.”