Blair will rule out smacking ban

Tony Blair will defy two major inquiries this week by refusing to ban parents from smacking their children.

A major Commons probe into the death of Victoria Climbié, the girl killed by her aunt in London, will say smacking in the home should be illegal.

The Health Select Committee will say the abuse of Victoria began with "little smacks" that social workers wrongly assumed were a sign of strict discipline. In a move designed to put pressure-on the Prime Minister, its publication coincides with a similar call by a joint Commons and Lords committee. The Joint Committee on Human Rights will say the Government could fall foul of European laws if it fails to make smacking illegal.

Both bodies will call for the abolition of the 140-year-old defence of "reasonable chastisement", which makes it lawful for parents to smack a child if it is for disciplinary purposes and does not involve cruelty.

Mr Blair - who has admitted to smacking his own children - has long refused to ban physical punishment. A Department of Education spokesman today said: "The Government is not going to ban smacking. It is not for the Government to interfere because parents are the best judge of how to keep discipline."

The statement will anger campaigners who welcomed the appointment of Margaret Hodge as the first Children's Minister. Ministers also banned childminders from using corporal punishment even with parental consent.

The Health Committee said social workers noticed Victoria was afraid of her great-aunt, Marie-Thérèse Kouao, and Kouao's boyfriend Carl Manning, but thought this was due to discipline. The committee is expected to say the "reasonable chastisement" defence gives abusive parents a legal loophole.