Leading voices urge the Prime Minister to end physical punishment against children in England

We coordinated the letter signed by 287 leading public figures, parliamentarians, academics, health professionals, charities and other organisations. It highlights the “outdated and damaging [legal] defence of reasonable punishment” that dangerously “teaches children that violence ‘corrects’ behaviour and that those closest to them can also be the ones who hurt them”.

Those leading the charge include Sir Michael Caine, Alan Shearer and Natalie Dormer, alongside actors Samantha Morton, Shaniqua Okwok, and Robert Lindsay and influential voices such as Terri White, Michael Gunning, Jodie Ounsley, Jim Chapman and many more across media, sport, and culture.

Rise in concerns

This call for change is increasingly urgent as new data reveals that in the past six months Helpline contacts from adults with concerns about the physical punishment of children increased by 40% compared to the same period last year.

Practitioners handled 262 contacts from adults worried about the physical punishment of a child from April to September 2025. Comparatively, there were only 184 contacts during the same period in 2024.

Over 65 countries around the world, including Wales and Scotland, have already taken the vital step of outlawing physical punishment against children, recognising that protecting them from harm is a fundamental responsibility and not up for debate.

There is also unanimous belief from parents, young people and safeguarding professionals in England that using physical punishment against children is unacceptable.

However, in England, the defence of ‘reasonable punishment’ means children are not fully protected in law from physical assault.

In 2022, then-opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer said that other areas of the UK should follow Wales’s example. He said the ban gives “children the protection that adults already have, and that is the right thing.”

Though his government could make this change in England through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, it has not taken this step yet.

Leading public figures and organisations see this as the Prime Minister’s “opportunity to be brave and lead with courage and compassion.”

They’re calling on Sir Keir Starmer to “stand up for every child’s right to safety, dignity and respect” and end the physical punishment of children in England for good, before another child is subject to unjust harm.