Published: 2 February, 2012
by JOHN GULLIVER

DAVID Lammy, the “smacking MP”, feels  parents should be allowed to chastise their children the hard way.

But, among others, whistleblower Dr Kim Holt doesn’t agree with him.  

Dr Holt, who worked in the clinic where vital signs that “Baby P” was unwell were missed, said on Twitter: “What does he think caused the bruises in Peter? I cannot believe that a Tottenham MP could suggest that smacking is beneficial.  It isn’t helpful as part of discipline.”

She pointed me to recent research showing “spanking can make children more aggressive later”.

Dr Holt now works for Whittington Health and is based at the Highgate hospital.

I remember Lammy, for his sins, speaking forcefully in defence of the Whittington when  the A&E was under threat. He told the crowd of around 500 people: “There is no way in hell this A&E will close. If they try again there will be a black man chained to the railings outside, and that man will be me.”