Children, Schools and Families Bill

I understand that entirely, Madam Deputy Speaker. However, the right hon. Gentleman is the Secretary of State with responsibility for education, and it is essential that we have proper discipline in schools. From the remarks that he has made from the Front Bench, and from the vicarious comments, it is clear that he would rule out any kind of physical punishment, under any circumstances whatsoever. My own Front-Bench spokesmen might disagree with me on this matter—if so, it would not be for the first time—but I am inviting the Secretary of State to consider, in his reply, whether there is an absolute ban on physical punishment in schools. For example, if a school was under siege by very violent pupils, is there absolutely no question about the fact that no form of physical punishment could be used by teachers? My question has to do not with the ECHR, but with what is needed in the interests of school discipline. It has become extremely unfashionable to suggest that there should be some form of physical retribution, and no one discusses whether that might be necessary. By the sound of it, the matter is an absolute for the Secretary of State, as it is for those who subscribe to the ECHR. In my view, however, it is important to have a proper and rational discussion of the question. The legal analysis to which I referred earlier also says that""any injury sustained by a child which is serious enough to warrant a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm cannot be considered to be as the result of reasonable punishment. ""Section 58 and the amended Charging Standard mean that for any injury to a child caused by a parent or person acting in loco parentis which amounts to more than a temporary reddening of the skin, and where the injury is more that transient and trifling, the defence of reasonable punishment is not available."" In other words, reasonable punishment is permitted under the law and the prohibition against it is not absolute. That is strange, as I had rather gathered from the Secretary of State's remarks that there was an absolute prohibition, yet the analysis that I have just referred to makes it clear that there are circumstances in which the law allows those in loco parentis to use reasonable punishment. The question then arises: should that legal principle be applied in schools? That is the issue. I should be very interested to know whether the Secretary of State is prepared to go down that route, and whether he has any idea of what the Singleton report will propose.