A bid to outlaw the smacking of children failed in Britain's House of Lords today.
Instead, the Upper House opted for a government-backed compromise crafted by Liberal Democrat Lord Lester, in which peers voted to allow "mild smacking".
The move to ban parents from smacking their children was defeated, with 75 voting for the measure and 250 against it.
Peers then went on to give the compromise solution their support with 226 votes versus 91 votes against.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said the government was opposed to a total ban.
"The government wants to send the signal that parents do have the right to discipline children at the same time as protecting the rights of children," he said.
"We don't want to criminalise parents - the government believes parents will recognise the distinction between discipline, which is right, and hurting a child, which is wrong," he added.