USING isolation booths to discipline children is ‘cruel and demeaning’.

That was the message MP Alex Sobel (Lab, Leeds North West) delivered in a speech for the Lose the Booths campaign last weekend. Isolation booths are cubicle sized spaces where students who have broken rules are placed alone.

Commenting after his speech at Carr Manor Community School, Mr Sobel said: “This form of punishment disproportionately affects the most vulnerable students in our schools, notably SEN and BAME pupils. I am now in the process of taking the government to task by asking for a review of their guidance and hope that, if not banned outright, stricter controls will be introduced.”