Sutton fights back

A Bill to outlaw the smacking of children by childminders has been backed by Sutton council, who lost an appeal earlier this year over their refusal to re-register a minder who insisted on her right to smack a child in her care. The council said the Private Member's Bill, introduced by Labour MP Joan Lestor, the shadow minister for children and the family, was 'the only sensible way forward in light of the judgment against us'.