Contributions
918 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) BillI thank Members across the House for their contributions to this Bill over many months and for their relentless scrutiny. I have never known a Minister to be in such a rush, with…16 Jun 2026 · 4d agoHANSARDSocial Media Ban for Under-16sI thank the Secretary of State for her statement. As someone infamous for her impatience, waiting for the Prime Minister to opine on something that she genuine cares about must…15 Jun 2026 · 5d agoHANSARDTopical QuestionsI was born in Harlow, would you believe it, Mr Speaker? Can the Secretary of State guarantee that under Labour’s EU reset, Britain will not align with any EU tech rules, including…20 May 2026HANSARDTopical QuestionsThere was no clear answer from the Secretary of State. It sounds like Labour is about to trade away our Brexit freedoms on tech regulation, yet tech Ministers have been briefing…20 May 2026HANSARD UK-based Tech CompaniesIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill (Peter Fortune) on securing this incredibly…11 Mar 2026HANSARD Technology SovereigntyIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I warmly congratulate the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (Dame Chi Onwurah) on securing such an…10 Mar 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionToday we are debating something that is very important: the protection of children from online harms is vital. I commend the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) on what I…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionThis is a Conservative amendment in the Lords that has gained cross-party support, so it will be coming back to us. The hon. Member raises an important point about why this policy…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionThere were very real and important debates during the passage of that Bill about legal but harmful material and whether people should be able to speak freely online. Our approach…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionI can agree with that. My point is that this Government are trying to suggest that a consensus can be found in the absence of their having a policy position. They are talking…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionI am sure the applicability of the legislation in Scotland is something that can be debated when the Bill comes before the House. To give them credit, many Labour MPs understand…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was pointing out that the Minister has no manners, but wishes to shout from a sedentary position. I sat listening to him and waiting to see if I…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionI respect the hon. Member’s intervention for its politeness, but I do not think the answer is suddenly to encourage all children who are finding it hard to find purposeful and…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionI appreciate where the hon. Member is coming from. I do not think it is wrong to seek evidence and ask for people’s views, but the Prime Minister should be honest about what he…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionI set out clearly at the beginning of my speech why we cannot support the motion, which is effectively a blank cheque. Notwithstanding the fact that the hon. Member for Twickenham…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionI have set out before what we were trying to achieve with the Online Safety Act and why certain things were in it and others were not. I do not want to go over that again. The…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionI thank the hon. Member for that intervention—I went off on a nostalgia trip in my brain, thinking about MSN chatrooms and all the rest of it. That was a time when people were not…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionWe think that the current priority is ensuring that under-16s are taken off harmful social media platforms, but I am sure that there is room for a market to develop, over time,…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionI am sure that the issue of the functionality list can be explored as time goes by. It is important to point out that this is not a moral panic but a structural problem. Today the…24 Feb 2026HANSARDOnline Harm: Child ProtectionI am not seeking to occupy a moral high ground. I am seeking to set out a way towards keeping children under 16 off social media platforms, because trying to legislate for…24 Feb 2026