UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailMost parents believe the Government should ban smartphones for under-16s, a poll has suggested.More than four in five (83%) parents said they felt smartphones were “harmful” to children and young people, according to a survey.Charity Parentkind is calling on all political parties to put a ban on smartphones for children in their manifestos ahead of the general election.It comes as Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, is campaigning for an age limit for smartphone usage and stricter controls on access to social media apps.A poll commissioned by Parentkind, of 2,496 parents of school-aged children in England, suggests that 58% of parents believe the Government should introduce a ban on smartphones for under-16s.A huge majority of parents of primary school children back a ban because they are terrified of their children becoming ensnared by a smartphone as they get olderJason Elsom, chief executive of ParentkindThe figure is even higher among parents of primary school children, where more than three in four (77%) would back a smartphone ban for under-16s.The online survey, conducted by WeThink between February 19 and March 4, found only 16% of parents of secondary school children support a smartphone ban for under-16s.Nearly nine in 10 (89%) parents said they were concerned their children could face online bullying and abuse through using a smartphone, while 87% were worried they might access harmful content online.Last week, schools minister Damian Hinds told MPs on the education select committee that getting a mobile phone between primary and secondary school had become a “rite of passage” for nearly all children.More than half (53%) of parents surveyed said they have felt pressure to give their child a smartphone at a younger age than they would prefer.More than two in three (69%) parents believe that limiting children’s access to smartphones would make life easier for them as a parent, the poll found.Jason Elsom, chief executive of Parentkind, said: “Society has sleepwalked into a position where children are addicted to harmful ‘electronic drugs’ and have no escape from their digital dealers.“We are starting to understand the harms of social media and the unrestricted gateway smartphones provide to vile online content but it seems parents already get it.“Most parents want the Government to help them overcome the peer pressure that leads to their children needing mobile phones by banning these devices and a huge majority of parents of primary school children back a ban because they are terrified of their children becoming ensnared by a smartphone as they get older.”He added: “The pressure is starting to mount on the Government to act and political parties to come together on this issue to protect children. This should be as uncontroversial as banning vaping for children.“Every party should put a ban on smartphones in their manifesto, something we will be calling for along with parent groups across the country.”Esther Ghey said: “It is amazing to see the wave of support for the campaigns we are promoting around mindfulness in schools and mobile phone safety.“The message has obviously resonated with parents who, through the poll, are saying that they share my concerns about safety for our young people when it comes to mobile phone use.”She added: “Although we are not working with Parentkind, we fully support any charities and campaigns that share our concerns and also want to help create a safer more empathetic and resilient world for our young people.”In February, schools in England were given non-statutory Government guidance intended to stop the use of mobile phones during school hours.A Government spokesperson said: “The educational and social benefits of technology are immense, but this should not come at the expense of children’s safety. That is why we issued guidance on banning smartphones in schools last month to support teachers and keep schools as a place of learning.“The majority of social media sites say they do not allow under-13s. Once implemented the Online Safety Act will require platforms to enforce their age limits and protect children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour MP Emily Thornberry has admitted she fell for a telephone scam when someone contacted her saying she missed a parcel. Speaking at the “How can government tackle fraud?” event at the Institute for Government on Tuesday night, the Shadow Attorney General said she gave her bank details to the fraudsters before realising it was a scam. Fraud is one of the most common crimes in the UK with 3.3 million offences recorded in the year ending June 2023. “I wonder how many people in this room have not had an attempt of fraud against them,” the Labour MP said: “How many people have not had a telephone call, an email or an attempt to try and bring them in and try defraud them. “I suspect there will be hardly anyone in this room who hasn’t been. I particularly fell for one when I had a text pretending to be the post office saying ‘we’re going to deliver your parcel but we need £2.30 to redeliver it’,” Ms Thornberry continued. “I gave them my bank details before I realised what I had just done. I posted the ordeal on Twitter and admitted that I’m an idiot.” In February, the government launched a new anti-fraud campaign to help people protect themselves against crime has been launched, but critics said it is “too little, too late”.The Government’s Stop! Think Fraud campaign includes a new website with fraud safety advice and adverts on billboards, broadcast and social media.Fraud accounts for about 40% of all crime in England and Wales, costing society £6.8 billion, the Home Office said.Labour said there has been an almost eightfold increase in the amount of fraud under Conservative rule, rising from about 440,000 offences in 2012.At the time of the announcement, Ms Thornberry said: “Under this Tory Government there has been an almost eightfold increase in the amount of fraud, from around 400,000 offences per year to 3.2 million, and the losses to the UK as a whole have grown from £38.4 billion per year to £219 billion.“After 14 years spent sleepwalking through the escalation of the crisis, launching an ad campaign in response is the definition of too little, too late.“And most importantly, the Government’s response also remains far too narrow.“This new campaign ignores the £158 billion lost to fraud each year by UK businesses, and does not even mention the two biggest components of those losses, procurement and payroll fraud.“Only Labour will deliver the comprehensive new plan we need to protect everyone targeted by this parasitic crime, from small firms to pensioners.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak will urge his fractured party colleagues to “pull together” as he prepares to appear before them at a meeting of backbench MPs.Mr Sunak is preparing to call on Tory MPs to unite behind him as rumours swirl of a plot to depose him ahead of the local elections.He is likely to use the financial trouble of Labour-run Birmingham council as a rallying cry for the May 2 elections, where residents in 107 local authorities across England go to the polls.Asked what the prime minister’s message would be to backbench Tories, the Prime Minister’s press secretary told reporters: “He will be talking about the local elections and [will say] we have got to pull together to make sure Labour don’t do what they have done to Britain, what they have done to Birmingham.”Birmingham City Council declared effective bankruptcy last year and faces an outstanding bill of £1bn as well as the requirement to find £300m of savings over the next two years.The Labour council have been forced to raise taxes by 21 per cent, and residents will see cuts to their bin collections and dimmed streetlights.Mr Sunak’s spokesperson said the prime minister plans to use Birmingham as a means of rallying the troops, calling on them to unite to keep Labour out: “As the PM said, (there have been) eye-watering tax rises, bins uncollected, massive cuts to the arts in Birmingham — it is truly… worse than in the 1970s under Labour leadership there.“So he will be talking about that” at the meeting of the 1922 Committee, which is a meeting point for all Tory MPs who are not ministers.Asked whether Mr Sunak was concerned that the Tories had not been working well together, his spokeswoman replied: “He wants everyone going into these local elections taking about the Labour Party’s poor record in Birmingham, Wales and London, and that will be the focus of the Conservatives as we go into these important local elections.”Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt has been rumoured as a potential Conservative leadership contender Downing Street refused to say whether Mr Sunak had held talks with Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt following reports she is being lined up by Tory rebels as his potential successor if he faces a no-confidence vote.Sources close to her have denied the suggestion that the Commons leader is plotting a takeover, but Ms Mordaunt has yet to issue a public denial.Rishi Sunak’s press secretary refused to “get into private discussions between colleagues” when asked whether Mr Sunak had spoken to Ms Mordaunt or those calling for him to be deposed.Asked whether the prime minister was disappointed that Ms Mordaunt had not firmly denied being part of a plot to replace him, his political spokeswoman said: “What the prime minister wants is all of his cabinet ministers and the wider conservative team to focus on delivering for the country.”Despite Mr Sunak’s supposed optimism, his spokesperson would not say whether the party expected to make gains at the local elections as the party continues to trail Labour in the polls.The Labour-run council declared itself effectively bankrupt in September last year When reporters asked if Sir Keir Starmer had had any response to Rishi Sunak’s proposed attack line, the Labour leader’s spokesperson said:“I could equally give you a list of conservative councils where they’ve had to introduce double-digit council tax rises, whether it’s Thurrock, whether it’s Woking.“We saw the failure a few years ago at Northampton County Council. We saw double-digit rises in Croydon when it was under control of the Tories. He added: “I think the idea that this is unique to one party is clearly not the case.“What we are seeing is the result of the government having massively underfunded local government as a whole and the responsibilities that local authorities have been left with to try and make the best of a very difficult situation”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch live as Vaughan Gething is expected to be officially nominated as the next first minister of Wales on Wednesday, 20 March.It comes after Welsh Labour members chose the current minister for the economy, 49, to be their next party leader succeeding Mark Drakeford, who had held the position since 2018.Mr Gething is expected to be declared the country’s fifth leader since the National Assembly for Wales, now the Senedd, was established in 1999.He has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2011, and has sat in the cabinet since 2016.Mr Gething rose to prominence as health minister from 2016 to 2021, holding the position throughout the Covid pandemic.On Wednesday, the Senedd will meet to choose a nominee; if only Mr Gething’s name is put forward he will be declared the nominee, but if more than one nomination is made then every member except for the Llywydd, or Presiding Officer, and the Deputy Presiding Officer, will vote for their preferred candidate by roll call. More