M
Member
Speaking in the House of Lords on 14 January 2026
Debate
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools BillContribution
This was silly. If you remove a defence for a specific action, then of course you are criminalising it. In Wales now, any report of smacking automatically triggers an investigation by social services or the police. If a parent is referred to the diversion scheme, that information may be recorded against them on the DBS system, so if they work with children or vulnerable adults, they could lose their jobs and livelihoods.
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