Irvine Welsh had the last word on Scotland’s ban on smacking children

John Plunkett. Updated October 4th, 2019

Scotland this week became the first country in the UK to ban outright the physical punishment of children,

It’s a criminal offence for parents to smack their offspring north of the border, while parents in England and Northern Ireland are currently allowed to use “reasonable chastisement”.

It prompted lots of people to say how being clipped around the ear (favourite euphemism) never hurt them as kids and it wouldn’t hurt their children now.

People like this bloke, for instance, from the relentlessly non-essential, Spiked.

Scotland’s ban on smacking is an outrageous assault on parental freedom. Smacking is not an act of violence — it is an act of love. I was smacked as a kid and it helped me to develop respect and self-control. Overturn this law, says Brendan O’Neillhttps://t.co/p0tLtQGPRS

— spiked (@spikedonline) October 3, 2019

And there was no shortage of responses to these sort of people.

To the “never did me any harm crowd”

I was hit a lot. It was miserable, demoralising and we know it doesn’t work.

Children shouldn’t have to face violence dressed up as discipline https://t.co/dSupNTWWvm

— Benali Hamdache (@greenbenali) October 3, 2019

https://twitter.com/SkyeCitySeries/status/1179863348315377666

"I was smacked as a child and I'm fine. I'm also advocating adults be free to use violence against helpless children in the home" is just a really terrible argument all round

— Martin Belam (@MartinBelam) October 3, 2019

"I was smacked as a kid and I turned out fine" scream grown men who spend most of their days shouting at children on the Internet because they don't belive in climate change.

— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) October 4, 2019

But the last word surely goes to Irvine Welsh, who said this.

Disappointing. I was given the belt almost every week at school and it made me into a cruel, psychotic drug addict. Now our so-called elected representatives would deny future generations such opportunities. PC gone nuts. https://t.co/xrB2VF4Z0D

— Irvine Welsh (@IrvineWelsh) October 3, 2019

Tell us it's a sarcasm…

— Veshkin Maxim🎃 (@VeshkinMaxim) October 3, 2019

I don’t think he needs to

— Bells Hells (@bblace) October 3, 2019