Parliamentary Search

Debate on bill on Friday, 7 March 2025, in the House of Commons, led by Josh MacAlister. The answering member was Chris Bryant.

Protection of Children (Digital Safety and Data Protection) Bill

Motion that the House sit in private negatived on division (1 to 75). Second reading. Debate adjourned, to be resumed on 11 July.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
763 cc552-605 
Session
2024-26
Department
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Legislative stage
Second reading
Procedure
Proxy voting
Private members' bills proceedings
Motions to sit in private
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Tom Hayes | 763 cc595-499 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Member is making a powerful point about the debate and how it has dwelled in part on the...

Ben Spencer | 763 c596 (Link to this contribution)

I am going to resist the temptation to be drawn into a discussion about research methodology in t...

Show all contributions (102)
Catherine Fookes | 763 c596 (Link to this contribution)

Does the hon. Gentleman agree with me on the importance of moving towards smartphone-free schools...

Ben Spencer | 763 cc596-7 (Link to this contribution)

I will come on to that a little later in my speech. Perhaps Government Members will have the chan...

Sam Carling | 763 cc597-8 (Link to this contribution)

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute briefly to the debate, and as the youngest MP I h...

Freddie van Mierlo | 763 c598 (Link to this contribution)

When I was growing up, we were first becoming aware of the digital world. On coming home from sch...

Ben Coleman | 763 c598 (Link to this contribution)

Will the hon. Gentleman join me in congratulating the Fulham boys school in my constituency, whic...

Freddie van Mierlo | 763 cc501-599 (Link to this contribution)

I happily join the hon. Gentleman in congratulating that school.

Unfortunately, what we hav...

Catherine Fookes | 763 c599 (Link to this contribution)

Thank you so much for giving way. Do you agree that, although this point has not come across in t...

Judith Cummins | 763 c599 (Link to this contribution)

Order. I remind hon. Members that interventions must be very short at this point, and please do n...

Freddie van Mierlo | 763 c599 (Link to this contribution)

I join the hon. Lady in congratulating young people on their work.

I say as a father that w...

Joe Powell | 763 c600 (Link to this contribution)

In the brief time available to me, I want to reinforce my tribute to my hon. Friend the Member fo...

Chris Bryant | 763 cc600-1 (Link to this contribution)

I will run through some of the contributions to the debate and then give specific answers to some...

Matt Turmaine | 763 c601 (Link to this contribution)

Does the Minister agree with a wiser person than me, who said that our psychology is neolithic, o...

Chris Bryant | 763 cc503-602 (Link to this contribution)

I think it was John Prescott who said something about ancient values in a modern setting. As we m...

Melanie Ward | 763 c602 (Link to this contribution)

In my constituency and across my area of Fife we have a real problem with violence and aggression...

Chris Bryant | 763 c602 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. The use of a mobile phone as another form of aggres...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c602 (Link to this contribution)

I am grateful to the Minister for that clarification. In his negotiations with the hon. Member fo...

Chris Bryant | 763 c603 (Link to this contribution)

The right hon. Gentleman is beginning to subscribe to conspiracy theories. I have had no role in ...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c603 (Link to this contribution)

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Chris Bryant | 763 c603 (Link to this contribution)

I bet this is not a point of order.

Kit Malthouse | 763 c603 (Link to this contribution)

It is a point of order. Madam Deputy Speaker, I wonder if you could give us guidance as to whethe...

Judith Cummins | 763 c603 (Link to this contribution)

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. However, that is not a matter for the Ch...

Chris Bryant | 763 cc603-5 (Link to this contribution)

I am afraid you will have to put up with me, Madam Deputy Speaker.

My hon. Friend the Membe...

Chris Bryant | 763 c559 (Link to this contribution)

I just thought my hon. Friend might like know that I will not be making any of the arguments that...

Chris Bryant | 763 c561 (Link to this contribution)

I urge the right hon. Gentleman to be slightly less sceptical about the value of CMO advice. As h...

Chris Bryant | 763 c573 (Link to this contribution)

That is exactly what the Government will do.

Chris Bryant | 763 c585 (Link to this contribution)

I have seen an awful lot of Bills in my time, since 2001, and nearly every one has contained some...

Josh MacAlister | 763 cc552-3 (Link to this contribution)

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

I began my career as a teacher. I f...

Jenny Riddell-Carpenter | 763 c553 (Link to this contribution)

I would like to associate myself with my hon. Friend’s warm words about Daisy and Joe, who are bo...

Josh MacAlister | 763 c553 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The campaign they have started will only grow over time.

Ashley Fox | 763 c553 (Link to this contribution)

I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s comments so far, but the emails I have received from constituen...

Josh MacAlister | 763 cc554-480 (Link to this contribution)

I will get to that in my speech. I am keen to get on to those points, and I will address the ques...

Alistair Strathern | 763 c481 (Link to this contribution)

It would be remiss of me not to start by thanking my hon. Friend for the leadership he has shown ...

Josh MacAlister | 763 cc482-556 (Link to this contribution)

I completely agree that progress is inevitable, given the strength of feeling in the country on t...

Dan Tomlinson | 763 c480 (Link to this contribution)

I thank my hon. Friend for all the work that he has done on this issue. When decision makers chos...

Josh MacAlister | 763 cc481-2 (Link to this contribution)

I thank my hon. Friend for that important question. Most countries landed on the age of 13 as a r...

Christopher Chope | 763 c483 (Link to this contribution)

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on introducing the Bill in the way he has and on becoming a Par...

Josh MacAlister | 763 cc483-4 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Member is, of course, a connoisseur of private Members’ Bills and has been known not to ...

Mims Davies | 763 c557 (Link to this contribution)

I thank the hon. Gentleman for this important Bill and the way in which he is presenting it. This...

Josh MacAlister | 763 c557 (Link to this contribution)

I completely agree that there is an urgency to this issue, and the strength of feeling out in the...

Scott Arthur | 763 c557 (Link to this contribution)

I thank my hon. Friend for the national debate he has stimulated about this; we should all be gra...

Josh MacAlister | 763 cc557-9 (Link to this contribution)

I thank my hon. Friend for making that point. Updated advice from the nations’ CMOs is so importa...

Josh MacAlister | 763 c559 (Link to this contribution)

I welcome the Minister’s intervention, and I am glad to have boxed off those five.

There ar...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c560 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister), from the far and beautiful north...

Scott Arthur | 763 c560 (Link to this contribution)

By explaining that there are so many fragmented and—no doubt—contradictory sources of information...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c560 (Link to this contribution)

I am not convinced that the guidance created by this Bill will be any more authoritative than tha...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c561 (Link to this contribution)

I would be willing to accept the hon. Gentleman’s encouragement if this were advice to schools, b...

Christopher Chope | 763 c561 (Link to this contribution)

I am one of the people who is very angry about this, and my right hon. Friend is a co-sponsor of ...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c561 (Link to this contribution)

I was going to come on to that later, but my hon. Friend is completely right.

Caroline Voaden | 763 c561 (Link to this contribution)

I support very much what the right hon. Gentleman is saying about the need for urgent action. Wha...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c562 (Link to this contribution)

As I said at the start of my speech, I lament the dithering and delay by the previous Government,...

Helen Hayes | 763 cc562-4 (Link to this contribution)

I start by paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAli...

Mims Davies | 763 c564 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Lady’s speech is fascinating. What she is saying is reflected by correspondence in my in...

Helen Hayes | 763 c564 (Link to this contribution)

The Education Committee will certainly continue to take this issue extremely seriously and to mon...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c564 (Link to this contribution)

As the hon. Lady says, the hon. Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister) has done a...

Helen Hayes | 763 cc564-486 (Link to this contribution)

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for helping me out at a difficult moment. I have now found the c...

Mike Wood | 763 c486 (Link to this contribution)

Does the hon. Lady recognise that, unlike the indoor smoking ban in particular, the regulation of...

Helen Hayes | 763 c565 (Link to this contribution)

If the hon. Gentleman will bear with me for a moment, I will come to some of the points that I th...

Rebecca Paul | 763 cc565-7 (Link to this contribution)

I am pleased to speak in support of the Bill. I must start by declaring an interest: I am a mothe...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c567 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend vividly illustrates the problem with this kind of collective action and peer press...

Rebecca Paul | 763 cc567-8 (Link to this contribution)

I concur with everything my right hon. Friend says. It is completely accessible to all our childr...

Richard Quigley | 763 c568 (Link to this contribution)

I come to this debate as somebody who bought their first mobile phone 30 years ago, at the age of...

Richard Quigley | 763 cc487-569 (Link to this contribution)

I thank the Minister for that. I remember clearly the joy of phoning the landline from bed and as...

Caroline Voaden | 763 cc569-570 (Link to this contribution)

I congratulate the hon. Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister) on bringing his pr...

Caroline Voaden | 763 cc570-2 (Link to this contribution)

Thank you.

We know that violent pornography that celebrates assault and rape is leading to ...

Jess Asato | 763 cc572-3 (Link to this contribution)

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister) for the huge am...

John Grady | 763 c573 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. In this debate, we are focusing a lot on children, b...

Jess Asato | 763 c573 (Link to this contribution)

I am incredibly grateful for my hon. Friend’s intervention. That is very true. We have seen a hug...

Jess Asato | 763 cc573-5 (Link to this contribution)

I am grateful to the Minister.

Social media is fuelling the rise of extremist misogyny onli...

Joani Reid | 763 c575 (Link to this contribution)

Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating Anas Sarwar, the leader of the Scottish Labour part...

Jess Asato | 763 c575 (Link to this contribution)

Of course I join my hon. Friend in those remarks.

Parents and future generations will not f...

Damian Hinds | 763 cc575-6 (Link to this contribution)

Our children’s use of phones and social media give us many things to worry about, but broadly spe...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c576 (Link to this contribution)

I also attended events that the hon. Member for Whitehaven and Workington pulled together. Does m...

Damian Hinds | 763 cc489-578 (Link to this contribution)

I think that is right. The other thing I was struck by in some of the sessions was the great unit...

Liam Conlon | 763 cc578-9 (Link to this contribution)

I begin by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister), wh...

Linsey Farnsworth | 763 c580 (Link to this contribution)

I am pleased that the Government are committed to tackling the mental health epidemic among adult...

Liam Conlon | 763 cc580-491 (Link to this contribution)

Absolutely. A key provision of the Bill will provide the evidence base on which to take the best ...

Alex Easton | 763 cc491-581 (Link to this contribution)

I, too, thank the hon. Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister) for bringing forwar...

Katie White | 763 cc581-3 (Link to this contribution)

May I start, like others, by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Jo...

Ashley Fox | 763 cc583-4 (Link to this contribution)

The smartphone is one of the most remarkable pieces of technology ever invented. Smartphones keep...

Josh MacAlister | 763 c584 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Member will know, as many in this House do, that private Members’ Bills are often a shot...

Ashley Fox | 763 cc584-5 (Link to this contribution)

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but having spent a great deal of time t...

Ashley Fox | 763 c494 (Link to this contribution)

I agree with the Minister that often a Bill will contain something that is merely declaratory. Ha...

Kit Malthouse | 763 c494 (Link to this contribution)

As I think we all know, the Government are likely to adjourn the debate on the Bill. Will my hon....

Ashley Fox | 763 c494 (Link to this contribution)

My right hon. Friend makes a very good point.

I maintain that this Bill is a waste of time....

John Whitby | 763 cc494-586 (Link to this contribution)

I am extremely pleased to be able to take part in today’s debate, and I thank my hon. Friend the ...

Monica Harding | 763 cc587-9 (Link to this contribution)

I am very pleased to speak in support of the safer phones Bill. I speak as the mother of four tee...

Dan Tomlinson | 763 cc589-590 (Link to this contribution)

I start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister) for...

Lewis Cocking | 763 cc590-1 (Link to this contribution)

I often say that I would not like to be a teenager growing up today in an environment dominated b...

Lola McEvoy | 763 cc591-3 (Link to this contribution)

I pay tribute to the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAli...

Lewis Cocking | 763 c593 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Lady is making an impassioned speech. Does she agree that in some cases social media has...

Lola McEvoy | 763 c496 (Link to this contribution)

That is exactly the case. Being 14 is hard. Being at school is tough. There has always been bully...

Alex Ballinger | 763 c496 (Link to this contribution)

I share my hon. Friend’s concern about the addictive nature of social media. Is she also concerne...

Lola McEvoy | 763 cc497-594 (Link to this contribution)

The online world has lots of moving parts, and it is really hard for legislators to keep up. We a...

Melanie Ward | 763 c594 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend and I were both present at an event with bereaved parents that was organised by ou...

Lola McEvoy | 763 c498 (Link to this contribution)

It has been very interesting to be part of this campaign, and I think there is a lot more to do.<...

Ben Spencer | 763 c595 (Link to this contribution)

It is a pleasure to speak on behalf of His Majesty’s official Opposition on this important topic....

John Grady | 763 c551 (Link to this contribution)

I beg to move, That the House sit in private.

Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 16...

Subjects
Children Data protection Internet Protection Mental health Safety Schools Social media Age assurance
Legislation
Protection of Children (Digital Safety and Data Protection) Bill 2024-26
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on hansard.parliament.uk