Be Reasonable Roadshow – Perth

The Be Reasonable Roadshow was in Perth on Tuesday night with special guest speaker Penny Lewis.

Penny, a parent activist, spoke about the importance of recognising the unique relationship between a parent and child, and how politicians have lost sight of this.

Recounting a conversation she recently had with a Holyrood MSP about the Finnie Bill, she commented, “whenever I said ‘smack’ – he said ‘assault’ – recategorising it as something brutal”. “It’s horrible to call it assault”, she said.

Penny continued: “Politicians seem to be determined to identify this one act as a criminal act – why? Why would they take a position so contrary to popular opinion?

“Because it’s politically motivated”, Penny concluded. “They want Scotland to be the best place for children to grow up. It’s making a big statement, but it’s bad politics, it’s dangerous.

“It undermines and erodes the good things we have in society. Every time politicians bring something like this forward, trust is eroded. You can’t have shared values unless you have privacy. Public good is dependent on private life and vice versa.”

Nigel Kenny of The Christian Institute, which supports the Be Reasonable campaign, brought practical pointers about how people could get involved in the campaign and oppose the plans to ban smacking.

The evening concluded with a lively Q&A.

The next Be Reasonable Roadshow will take place in Edinburgh on Thursday 14 June, 7:30pm at the Jury’s Inn.