Minister says ‘no plans’ to ban smacking in England regardless of issues rising from Sara Sharif trial – UK politics stay

Humza Yousaf, the previous Scottish first minister, has introduced that he’ll stand down as an MSP on the subsequent Holyrood election, in 2026.

In a letter to present first minister John Swinney, Yousaf mentioned he shall be campaigning exhausting for the SNP on the subsequent election however won’t run himself. He mentioned:

Come 2026, I’ll have served 15 years as an MSP, 12 of these years as a minister within the Scottish authorities.

The following Scottish parliament elections in 2026 would be the proper time for me to maneuver on, to offer a possibility for the subsequent era of MSPs to step ahead, and to discover the place I can finest make a contribution sooner or later in serving to to deal with among the most urgent challenges our world faces.

Yousaf mentioned that he hoped his time as first minister had been an inspiration to others.

It’s typically mentioned that you just can’t be what you can not see. I hope by by changing into the primary first minister of color, and first Muslim chief of a Western democratic nation, I’ve despatched a transparent message to each younger particular person, of any background, who aspires to get entangled in public service, that you just do belong and are simply as deserving of alternative as everyone else.

And he mentioned that, though he had made errors, he felt he had at all times handled individuals with respect.

When one chapter begins to shut, you typically spend time reflecting in your achievements, errors and even regrets – I’ve all three. Nonetheless, I hope that all through all of it, I used to be in a position to deal with individuals with kindness, courtesy and respect.

He has posted the complete letter on social media.

In a response, Swinney mentioned:

I’m sorry to see @HumzaYousaf stepping down @ScotParl. He has been a pioneer in Scottish politics. I worth all he has contributed to @scotgov and @theSNP and look ahead to his continued involvement. I want Humza, Nadia and their household a lot peace collectively

The Put up Workplace Horizon IT inquiry is listening to closing submissions from counsel at this time. Attorneys representing (so as) the Put up Workplace, Paula Vennells, Fujitsu, Gareth Jenkins, and the Division for Enterprise and Commerce are all talking, and so they have been allotted an hour every.

The listening to began at 9.30am. There’s a stay feed right here.

Good morning. The kids’s wellbeing and faculties invoice is being revealed at this time and, as Sally Weale experiences, it can set out plans to tighten checks on kids being educated at house in England.

Publication coincides with the sentencing of the killers of 10-year-old Sara Sharif – her father and step-mother – following a trial that exposed particulars of one of the vital surprising circumstances of kid cruelty heard by a British courtroom in years. Sara was taken out of college, and educated at house within the months earlier than her demise, though lecturers had began to note proof that she was being assaulted at house, and so the laws – though deliberate nicely earlier than the trial – does deal with one among safeguarding loopholes the Sharif case has highlighted.

Bridget Phillipson, the schooling secretary, has been giving interviews this morning. She advised the As we speak programme:

Too many kids have been failed by the state lately, it’s clear that motion is required. So no extra classes realized, no extra phrases. As we speak we set out our plans to guarantee that these businesses are working collectively and that we’ve a lot larger visibility of the place kids are and what they’re experiencing of their lives.

However in interviews Phillipson has additionally mentioned the federal government doesn’t plan to legislate to ban smacking kids in England – though it’s banned in Scotland and Wales, and though the federal government indicated within the autumn a rethink was on the playing cards.

In 2022, as opposition chief, Keir Starmer mentioned he wish to see the ban prolonged to England. In October, after the Sara Sharif muder trial opened, Dame Rachel de Souza, the kids’s commissioner, mentioned that “a ban on smacking is a necessary step to keep children safe and to stop lower level violence from escalating” and on the time the Division for Schooling mentioned: “We are looking closely at the legal changes made in Wales and Scotland as we consider whether there is any more we could do in this area.” Final week, after the verdicts had been delivered within the Sharif trial, de Souza mentioned:

What haunts me probably the most about Sara’s demise is that her father used the phrases ‘I legally punished my child’, believing this to be a defence to homicide. It’s unthinkable that any mum or dad or carer might cover behind our authorized system to justify such cruelty – and but, kids residing in England at this time have much less safety from assault than adults.

But at this time Phillipson has mentioned that the federal government nonetheless has “no plans” to behave on this. She advised LBC:

We’re not meaning to legislate round this. I do need to have a look at the expertise in Wales and Scotland the place they’ve legislated to grasp what the impact has been.

And, requested why the federal government isn’t implementing a ban in England, she advised Instances Radio:

As a result of what I need to perceive is the affect and the impact of the laws in Wales. They are going to be setting out the primary spherical of a evaluation into the implications and impact of the laws that they’d launched. I wish to see that, wish to perceive it, and to determine then whether or not it’s essential to take additional measures right here in England.

Right here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: Keir Starmer has been having a breakfast assembly with enterprise leaders in Estonia. Later he’s attending the Joint Expeditionary Drive summit, and then visiting British forces close to the border with Russia.

9.30am: The Put up Workplace Horizon scandal inquiry hears closing statements from counsel representing the Put up Workplace, Paula Vennells, Fujitsu, Gareth Jenkins, and the Division for Enterprise and Commerce.

10.30am: Charles Clarke, the previous Labour house secretary, and Michael Gove, the previous Conservative justice secretary, give proof on prisons to the Lords justice and residential affairs committee.

11.30am: Downing Avenue holds a foyer briefing.

11.30am: Ed Miliband, the power secretary, takes questions within the Commons.

Early afternoon (most likely): The House Workplace publishes a written ministerial assertion with particulars of funding for police forces in England and Wales in 2025-26.

2.30pm: Yvette Cooper, the house secretary, offers proof to the Commons house affairs committee (which for a few years she used to chair).

2.30pm: Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, offers proof to the Commons justice committee.

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