London: Forty British schools have launched a fight for their right to cane children
The schools are planning an appeal to the European court of Human Rights against the School Standards and Framework Act, which will bring Britain's private schools into line with the state schools' 13-year ban on the cane.
Philip Williamson, head of Liverpool's Christian Fellowship School, said there was a role for corporal punishment in schools.
"Some children definitely do benefit from a smack," he told The Times newspaper.