Nadhim Zahawi says parents should be trusted on whether to smack children

Education secretary says wife has used light smack' as he rejects calls for ban in England

The education secretary has rejected calls for a ban on parents smacking children in England, revealing that his wife has occasionally given their daughter a light smack on the arm".

Nadhim Zahawi said he did not want to end up in a world where the state is nannying people about how they bring up their children", but senior Conservative MPs called for a parliamentary debate on the issue after the children's commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, supported a ban.