Children, Schools and Families Bill

I agree. I concede that this is a difficult area, but it is important that we do not lock ourselves into a situation whereby we apply an absolute principle based on the so-called philosophical attitude. There are moral questions that depend on the manner in which, for example, a school can and should be run in the interests of all the people in that school, including all the children in a class and the teachers themselves. There is a balance to be struck. That is what I am arguing for, and part of the purpose of our debates in the House is to try to draw attention to the fact that balances need to be struck. I have sympathy with and great respect for the hon. Member for Keighley, but I rather get the impression that she takes an absolute position. I do not, and I am searching for, and believe that there should be, a reasonable parameter. We should bear in mind that from 1860 to 2004 the situation was, subject to evolving circumstances, much less difficult than it is now. New clause 10 would make the situation more confusing, and I hope that the Secretary of State's response will be a revelation. However, I do not think that it will avoid the existing problem with getting the balance right between violent children on the one hand and the need for discipline in schools on the other. Violent children use very harsh physical punishment on teachers and on other children in school, and the question remains to be resolved of whether in the interests of discipline it is necessary to apply, in the last resort, a degree of physical punishment in certain circumstances to such violent children in school. In the interests of discipline in schools and good order in society, I am interested in, and shall listen carefully to, what the Secretary of State has to say. There is nothing absolute about our position; I wait to see whether there is anything absolute about his.