The legislation to give children the same protection from assault that adults have was finally passed in parliament last week.

As a long-time supporter of giving children equal protection from assault, I was delighted to join MSPs from all parties, with the exception of one, by voting in favour.

Speaking during the debate, I reminded MSPs that the Scottish Parliament is a guarantor of human rights and we have an obligation to protect this rights of children. This includes the right to protection from violence, abuse and neglect, as stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

There was opposition to the Bill, however I believe much of this is based on misunderstanding and misinformation.

The Bill is often incorrectly described as introducing a smacking ban, but it is important to remember that it does not create a new criminal offence.

Rather, it seeks to remove a legal defence, in order to give children and adults the same legal protection from assault.

Although Scotland is now the first country in the United Kingdom to introduce this protection, there are over 50 countries worldwide who have already taken this positive step.

There now needs to be investment in public awareness about how this protection will work in practice.

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The vote last week did not provide funding, however the public sector, including social services and police, and government must work together to ensure that parents understand how the legislation will work.

It may take some time for the benefits of equal protection to be evident.

But, in the meantime, we must continue to protect and enhance the rights of children across Scotland to make our country a safe and secure place for children to develop and grow.

Last week in the parliament, I also spoke during the Labour debate backing the ‘Give Them Time’ campaign.

The campaign is parent-founded and is being run to try and end the inequality in nursery funding for children who have deferred entry to primary school.

Currently, many children born between August and December, who have a legal right to start school the year after they normally would, do not get funding for an additional year of nursery.

However, those born in January and February have an automatic entitlement to that funding.

On average, children born between August and December receive the lowest number of months of nursery funding.

The indirect consequence could result in hundreds of children going to school when they are not ready, for no other reason than because their parents may be unable to afford the additional childcare costs.