A daily summary of social care stories from the main newspapers

By David Callaghan.

Child charities angered as smacking stays

Children’s charities are angered by the government’s decision
not to ban smacking of under-threes as Scottish executive has
done.

Health minister Jacqui Smith said children in England and Wales
were given adequate protection by the concept of ‘reasonable
chastisement’ and the Human Rights Act.

Mary Marsh, chief executive of the NSPCC, said it was
‘Dickensian’ to allow parents to hit children, and that children
should be given the same rights as adults.

Hilton Dawson, MP for Lancaster and Wyre, called for a free vote
on smacking in the House of Commons.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Friday 9 November page 8

Scottish newspapers

Children sold as domestic slaves in Britain

Thousands of young children from west Africa are working in
Britain as slaves, a new investigation reveals.

Many are beaten and abused, investigators from Radio Four’s
‘Today’ programme have found. The young children are often put into
domestic work after being smuggled into the country.

False travel documents can be purchased for as little £5,
and girls can actually be purchased for as little as £5.

The revelations come while the Victoria Climbie inquiry examines
the circumstances surrounding her death at the hands of her great
aunt and her boyfriend. Victoria was brought from the Ivory Coast
to Britain in 1999. She suffered months of abuse before dying with
128 injuries on her body.

Source:- The Scotsman Friday 9 November