Equal Protection Bill gains cross-party support

A bill to abolish “justifiable assault’ of children has gained the signatures of more than 18 MSPs across Holyrood’s five parties.

The formal endorsement follows last week’s statement by the Scottish government that it will work with John Finnie MSP to help his member’s bill become law.

Earlier this year a three-month public consultation on removing the defence of “justifiable assault” of children from Scots law resulted in more than 650 responses from individuals and organisations, with almost 75 per cent of respondents supporting the bill.

Mr Finnie said: “I am grateful to the more than 20 MSPs from across the parties who have given their support to allow my bill to proceed. The public consultation held earlier this year heard from a wide variety of organisations and individuals and it was clear from the responses that there is overwhelming support for the proposal.

“Children deserve the same legal protection from assault that adults enjoy, a position that children’s rights organisations and charities have long been arguing. Substantial academic research from around the world shows that physical punishment does not work and is shown to be counterproductive; my bill aims to support parents to make positive choices.

“I look forward to parliament examining the bill and stand ready to make the case that providing equal protection for children - ending justifiable assault - will show that Scotland really is the best place to grow up.”