Wes Streeting says Starmer ābehind the curveā on under-16s social media ban ā UK politics live
Former health secretary says he unsuccessfully argued for tougher action when in cabinetGood morning. 59pm tonight. Keir Starmer is expected to announce the governmentās response soon afterwards. He has already said that there will be action of some sort. This morning Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who is running what is in effect a leadership campaign, has intervened.
Streeting restated his claim that social media is like the tobacco industry and suggested that, just as tobacco bosses did in the mid-20th century, social media executives have been suppressing evidence about the full extent of the harm caused by their products. He claimed governmments around the world had been āasleep at the wheelā on this issue. He suggested that Keir Starmer had been ābehind the curveā on this issue. While he was not overly criticial of the PM on this issue, suggesting that governments around the world have been slow to confront social media companies on this issue, he made it clear that he thought the Starmer government could have acted more quickly. He said that he was speaking out now because he was āliberated from the obligations of collective responsibilityā.
He said the arguments he was making in public today were the ones he was making privately in government, āin a number of cabinet committees and meetingsā, and that he āpushed as hard as I couldā. To be fair to Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, she came into office [in September last year], sheās gripped this, sheās chosen to run a rapid consultation with the principle of how to implement restrictions, rather than whether. Thatās all positive. And we must, because, as I say, weāre behind the curve. Continue reading...
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Read original Ā· iranintl.comCSIS previews Trump-Xi summit as Taiwan and arms sales loom large
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Read original Ā· csis.org
CSISRevealed: huge climate cost of harmful emissions from US immigration flights
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Read original Ā· theguardian.comMother of boy who may have died in TikTok challenge urges No 10 to ban social media
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Read original Ā· theguardian.comUK experiences ātropical nightā after hottest ever May day
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Read original Ā· theguardian.comMillions of salmon deaths at Scottish farms disclosed after watchdogās ruling
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Read original Ā· theguardian.com