Victoria Climbie

The government has rejected calls for a ban on parents smacking their children.

Two influential parliamentary committees backed the move in separate reports issued on Tuesday.

But Number 10 said the government would not yield to demands for a ban.

"We continue to believe it is a matter of individual choice for parents," said the prime minister's official spokesman. "The government believes that most parents accept and understand there is a considerable difference between discipline and abuse."

The government says ministers will continue to target parents who fail to distinguish between the two.

It will introduce new powers for child protection agencies so that they can deal with abuse "quickly and effectively" - with a green paper on child welfare due before the summer recess.

Conservatives have also joined the government in warning against further state intrusion into the legitimate rights and duties of parents.

But in a report on the death of Victoria Climbie, who died after suffering abuse from her aunt and her aunt's boyfriend, the Commons health select committee said that a ban on the physical punishment of children would end the "reasonable chastisement" defence in child abuse cases.

"We urge the government to use the forthcoming green paper on children at risk to remove the increasingly anomalous 'reasonable chastisement' defence from parents and carers, which can impede the process of child abuse cases," said committee chairman David Hinchliffe.

Meanwhile, MPs and peers on the joint committee on human rights warned the government that failure to implement a ban could contravene the United Nations convention on the rights of the child.

"We have examined the case for retaining the defence, but find the lack of respect it embodies for children's entitlement to be free from physical assault to be unacceptable," the report said.

"We conclude that the time has come for the government to act upon the recommendations of the UN committee on the rights of the child concerning the corporal punishment of children and the incompatibility of the defence of reasonable chastisement with its obligations under the convention.

"We do not accept that the decision of the government not to repeal or replace the defence of reasonable chastisement is compatible with its obligations under the convention on the rights of the child."

However, ministers have repeatedly rejected calls to ban smacking, saying that the decision should rest with parents.

There have also been newspaper campaigns against any moves towards "nanny state" interference in private family life.

Shadow health secretary Dr Liam Fox added his voice to those opposing any ban on smacking.

"Outlawing smacking would be an outrageous intrusion by the state into parents' legitimate rights and duties," he warned.

"There's a whole world of difference between the form of discipline most parents use and the premeditated and persistent cruelty which has come to light in cases such as that of Victoria Climbie.

"To try to draw parallels is not only preposterous but also deeply insulting to the vast majority of parents in this country."