Plans drawn up south of the border to allow childminders to smack the children in their care have been met with derision in Scotland. Under the proposed English national care standards, with parental permission childminders can smack their charges and also be allowed to smoke in front of them. The proposals have been strongly condemned by the Scottish Childminding Association's equivalent organisation, the National Childminding Association (NCMA). NCMA chief executive Gill Haynes warned, 'These standards are...