As you might have heard, a cross-party Assembly group put forward a motion proposing that the Welsh Government introduce new legislation to outlaw "smacking". The vote on the motion was won 24-15, but Social Services & Children Minister Gwenda Thomas (Lab, Neath) has ruled out any legislation.
As for my personal view on any potential ban, I'm firmly on the fence.
The state shouldn't mandate how children are disciplined in the home - it's a matter for parents alone - and I consider that an overriding principle.
On the other hand, resorting to violence to get children to cooperate - in my opinion -means the parent has "lost it", not the child. Using euphemisms like "smacking" detracts from the fact that corporal punishment is an outdated Victorian concept. There's something typically British about wanting to give someone a wallop (literally or metaphorically) when they do wrong - including children.
Though there is room to define "good practice", you end up creating another 40-page Assembly circular that only bureaucrats and politicians will read. Those who should read it – parents - will ignore it or won't even know it exists. You'll also be back at the first argument, going around in circles and providing cover for those parents who would use "discipline" as an excuse for poor parenting or even child abuse.
In EnglandandWales, "reasonable chastisement" is currently legal, provided it doesn't leave a mark. As usual with common law, the definitions and legalese leave it out of the realm of public understanding, and just creates work for solicitors and legal secretaries. The Scottish Parliament debated a full ban a few years ago but passed a watered-down version.
Welsh Select Affairs Committee chair David Davies MP (Con, Monmouth) has (quite correctly) raised concerns that any ban would encroach into criminal law - which isn't devolved and is an EnglandandWales matter. His personal views on the ban notwithstanding (he opposes it, quelle surprise), the devolution settlement is starting to strain.
I don't think this Labour government, with its commitment to children's rights, would walk away from a chance to introduce a smacking ban without there being underlying issues. Could said issues have prevented Gwenda Thomas from taking the Assembly's motion forward?
The Assembly and Welsh Government have previously introduced measures and regulations that could be classed as changes to criminal law and/or enable criminal prosecutions - the ban on shock collars for instance, or the law on single use carrier bags. If these laws can't be enforced properly or can be easily overturned by the likes of the Supreme Court, then Welsh laws are effectively useless, our AMs time wasted and it makes a mockery of devolution.
We elect our AMs on the basis that "protection and well being of children" (as written in Schedule 7 of the Government of Wales Act 2006) is a devolved Wales-only matter. If the Welsh electorate don't like what AMs are proposing we can vote them out in 2016.
If the constitution is hamstringing ordinary AMs and the Welsh Government from doing their jobs as they see fit, isn't it time for David Davies and Cheryl Gillan to seriously consider devolution of criminal justice and a separate Welsh legal jurisdiction?
All I can see them doing in the future is threatening to run to the Supreme Court every time the Assembly proposes something they don't like, using EnglandandWales as a massive loophole and ensuring they (and their roles) stay relevant.
Not good for devolution, not good for the constitution and certainly not good for effective and efficient governance in Wales.
If the Welsh Government are breathing a sigh of relief that they've escaped a "constitutional confrontation", just wait until the Organ Donation Bill....
As for my personal view on any potential ban, I'm firmly on the fence.
The state shouldn't mandate how children are disciplined in the home - it's a matter for parents alone - and I consider that an overriding principle.
On the other hand, resorting to violence to get children to cooperate - in my opinion -means the parent has "lost it", not the child. Using euphemisms like "smacking" detracts from the fact that corporal punishment is an outdated Victorian concept. There's something typically British about wanting to give someone a wallop (literally or metaphorically) when they do wrong - including children.
Though there is room to define "good practice", you end up creating another 40-page Assembly circular that only bureaucrats and politicians will read. Those who should read it – parents - will ignore it or won't even know it exists. You'll also be back at the first argument, going around in circles and providing cover for those parents who would use "discipline" as an excuse for poor parenting or even child abuse.
In EnglandandWales, "reasonable chastisement" is currently legal, provided it doesn't leave a mark. As usual with common law, the definitions and legalese leave it out of the realm of public understanding, and just creates work for solicitors and legal secretaries. The Scottish Parliament debated a full ban a few years ago but passed a watered-down version.
Welsh Select Affairs Committee chair David Davies MP (Con, Monmouth) has (quite correctly) raised concerns that any ban would encroach into criminal law - which isn't devolved and is an EnglandandWales matter. His personal views on the ban notwithstanding (he opposes it, quelle surprise), the devolution settlement is starting to strain.
I don't think this Labour government, with its commitment to children's rights, would walk away from a chance to introduce a smacking ban without there being underlying issues. Could said issues have prevented Gwenda Thomas from taking the Assembly's motion forward?
The Assembly and Welsh Government have previously introduced measures and regulations that could be classed as changes to criminal law and/or enable criminal prosecutions - the ban on shock collars for instance, or the law on single use carrier bags. If these laws can't be enforced properly or can be easily overturned by the likes of the Supreme Court, then Welsh laws are effectively useless, our AMs time wasted and it makes a mockery of devolution.
We elect our AMs on the basis that "protection and well being of children" (as written in Schedule 7 of the Government of Wales Act 2006) is a devolved Wales-only matter. If the Welsh electorate don't like what AMs are proposing we can vote them out in 2016.
If the constitution is hamstringing ordinary AMs and the Welsh Government from doing their jobs as they see fit, isn't it time for David Davies and Cheryl Gillan to seriously consider devolution of criminal justice and a separate Welsh legal jurisdiction?
All I can see them doing in the future is threatening to run to the Supreme Court every time the Assembly proposes something they don't like, using EnglandandWales as a massive loophole and ensuring they (and their roles) stay relevant.
Not good for devolution, not good for the constitution and certainly not good for effective and efficient governance in Wales.
If the Welsh Government are breathing a sigh of relief that they've escaped a "constitutional confrontation", just wait until the Organ Donation Bill....
I'm a Welsh Patriot and a Nationalist but if this is the type of legislation Welsh politicians want to pass....then maybe I should try and find some for of Britishness which will accommodate my beliefs. Between a rock and a hard place if ever there was...... :-(
ReplyDeleteAnon - Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not endorsing the kind of nannystateism we've come to associate with Labour at both UK and Welsh levels.
ReplyDeleteIf the Assembly wants to pass legislation on a devolved matter then they should be able to do so without any difficulties other than their own scrutiny proceedures. I say this even if some of the resulting laws drive many of us to bang our heads against the wall (though Labour would probably try and ban that if they could).
That's not just a devolution, Welsh politician thing. The "mother of all Parliaments" down the M4 have passed their fair share of crap laws down the years - including a weak attempt to ban smacking.
So far, our legislative assembly (the Labour creation) can legislate on cycle paths and allotments, and possibly (but won't) on not smacking children.
ReplyDeleteWonderful.... meanwhile Wales is being flushed down the toilet by the Union.
In the meantime Plaid is taking six months off to decide where it went wrong (just about everywhere) and can do without a leader until next March.
We Welsh are good at shooting ourselves in the foot, and sometimes much higher up.