Sir Keir Starmer against ‘simply banning’ children’s phones

In February, the previous government issued guidance for schools to restrict phone use during the school day.

It suggested examples of how to achieve a phone-free environment, including a total ban on school premises, or rules requiring that handsets are given in at the start of the day.

Sir Keir met Esther Ghey when she visited Parliament to campaign after the death of her daughter, Brianna.

She has called for children to be stopped from having access to social media apps on their phones, an idea that was backed by the children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza.

In May, the Education Select Committee said children’s screen time had been rising year on year.

One in four children use their phones in a manner that resembles “behavioural addiction”, its report said, while 79% of children have encountered violent pornography before the age of 18.

The report said the Online Safety Act, which puts responsibility on social media firms to protect children from harmful material, would play a role in keeping children safe, but not until it was fully implemented in 2026.

Children’s charity the NSPCC, however, has said the debate on screen time and online safety has so far had the voices of young people themselves “glaringly absent” from it.