A powerful coalition of campaigners and celebrities, led by NSPCC CEO Chris Sherwood and London actor Samantha Morton OBE, will today hand-deliver a letter to Number 10 urging Sir Keir Starmer to end the use of physical punishment against children in England, once and for all.
This will follow a rally at Westminster where a wider group of public figures, including Alistair Petrie, Heidi Range and Terri White, will meet with cross-party MPs and Peers to demand urgent legislative change.
With the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill currently progressing through Parliament, campaigners say this is a pivotal moment to act.
The letter, coordinated by the NSPCC and signed by 287 leading public figures, parliamentarians, academics, health professionals, charities and other organisations highlights the “outdated and damaging [legal] defence of reasonable punishment” that dangerously “teaches children that violence ‘corrects’ behaviour and that those closest to them can also be the ones who hurt them”.
Sir Michael Caine said: “I am proud to sign this letter and support this NSPCC campaign calling for the end of physical punishment on children in England.
“Many other countries around the world, including Wales and Scotland, have already changed the law to ensure children have the same protection from being hit as adults.
“Now is the moment for England to join them and draw a line under this damaging and harmful practice once and for all.”
Others leading the charge include Alan Shearer and Natalie Dormer, alongside actors Shaniqua Okwok, and Robert Lindsay and influential voices such as Terri White, Michael Gunning, Jodie Ounsley, Jim Chapman and many more across media, sport, and culture.
Samantha Morton, London Actor and NSPCC Ambassador for Childhood, said: “Physical punishment of children is never reasonable, and the law in England needs to be changed to address this. It’s vague, it’s harmful, and it leaves children less protected than adults.
“I’m proud to stand with the NSPCC at Downing Street today and call on Government to act to protect children and ensure that the law is clear, equal and most of all, keeps every child safe from harm.”
Members of the NSPCC’s Young People’s Board for Change were in attendance, including Allegra from London, who said: “I’m incredibly proud to be part of this day of action. Children deserve the same protection from harm as adults and I really hope that the Government will listen and take action as soon as possible.”
This call for change is increasingly urgent as new data reveals that in the past six months contacts to the NSPCC Helpline from adults with concerns about the physical punishment of children increased by 40% compared to the same period last year.
Practitioners handled 262 contacts from adults worried about the physical punishment of a child from April to September 2025. Comparatively, there were only 184 contacts during the same period in 2024.
Over 65 countries around the world, including Wales and Scotland, have already taken the vital step of outlawing physical punishment against children, recognising that protecting them from harm is a fundamental responsibility and not up for debate.
There is also unanimous belief from parents, young people and safeguarding professionals in England that using physical punishment against children is unacceptable.
However, in England, the defence of ‘reasonable punishment’ means children are not fully protected in law from physical assault.
In 2022, then-opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer said that other areas of the UK should follow Wales’s example, stating “what it (the ban) does is give children the protection that adults already have, and that is the right thing”. Though his government could make this change in England through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, they have not taken this step yet.
Leading public figures and organisations see this as the Prime Minister’s “opportunity to be brave and lead with courage and compassion”.
They’re calling on Sir Keir Starmer to “stand up for every child’s right to safety, dignity and respect” and end the physical punishment of children in England for good, before another child is subject to unjust harm.
Chris Sherwood, CEO at the NSPCC, said: “With over 65 countries, including Wales and Scotland, already having legislated to protect children from physical punishment, how much longer can England justify waiting?
“The evidence is crystal clear, physical punishment is harmful, ineffective, and damages the trust and wellbeing at the heart of family relationships. The Prime Minister has previously called for England to follow Wales’s lead and remove the outdated defence of ‘reasonable punishment’. Now is his time to act.
“I’m proud to stand alongside so many influential voices urging him to turn words into action and show leadership to ensure children are afforded the same legal protection from assault as adults.”
