March 2026

There are strong and differing views across this House and the country on a social media ban for under-16s. Indeed, when I have spoken to young people, that has come out, and there was not a strong feeling in my old school, de Ferrers academy, about this. Can the Secretary of State say what engagement she will have with young people, so that decisions about their lives are directly fed into this consultation?

9. What steps her Department is taking to engage with children and young people on social media use.

Parliamentary appearance by Abtisam Mohamed

Parliamentary appearance by Rebecca Long Bailey

Q6. At the international conference last week, it was clear that mobile phone theft is international organised crime. It drags in people as young as 14 years old. The Mayor of London and the Met commissioner have spent money on the latest tech to combat that crime, and it is working, but they need help. Manufacturers have the ability to deploy a kill switch to make stolen mobile phones worthless, but they do not do it—although Samsung takes it more seriously than Apple. If manufacturers do not d

Order.

Order. Unfortunately, we are now going to have to move to a time limit of a minute and a half. I am still trying to get everybody in.

Parliamentary appearance by Oliver Ryan

I think that the Member has finished speaking.

Order.

Order. I reiterate that there is a strict two-minute time limit on speeches.

Not for the first time, my hon. Friend is spot on. I spoke to young people at Fullhurst school in my constituency and they had very different views about this proposal. We really want to hear directly from young people themselves—we have already had over 1,700 responses—but especially from children. We are partnering with UK Youth and Volunteering Matters to run a series of seven youth-led events across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We will also pilot other potential interventio

I think the party that wants to repeal the Online Safety Act puts children at risk. Its Members do not stand for British values and they do not stand for British law; Labour Members do.

Parliamentary appearance by Dr Simon Opher

The Minister is making an important point. The economics of higher education are actually quite complicated; there is a great deal of cross-subsidy, with the humanities and the arts effectively supporting science, medicine and engineering courses and so on. Does the Minister agree that we should be worried that the Opposition parties’ proposals would put jobs and the viability of universities at risk?

My hon. Friend is completely correct, and as always makes the point eloquently. It is vital that Royal Mail management listen to her and CWU. The hon. Member for Cheadle (Mr Morrison) was absolutely right about hospital appointments. Appointments letters arriving on the day of the appointment or after the appointment has taken place causes huge distress, as well as inefficiency for our local health services. Unfortunately, in Scotland, we do not have the NHS app enjoyed by colleagues in England,

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I congratulate the hon. Member for Exmouth and Exeter East (David Reed) on securing this vital debate. I want to make three points about Royal Mail performance that are of particular concern to my constituents in Glenrothes and Mid Fife, and particularly in the town of Glenrothes. Despite the fantastic efforts of our local postal workers, there have been significant delays in my constituents receiving mail, particularly over the Christmas

Order. Members can see that the debate is heavily subscribed, so it will be difficult to get every Member in. I am going to impose a two-minute limit to start. It is not in my gift to stop this, but if Members take interventions, that may further restrict the time that people have to speak. That is in your gift.

I remind hon. Members that they may make a speech only with the prior permission of the Member in charge and the Minister. As is the convention for 30-minute debates, there will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up.

There are few of us here today, but the speeches in this debate have been absolutely from the heart, sincere, and very detailed indeed. Members have not just come in and written out a speech; they are here because they have been living with this issue for years. They really believe in what they are saying, and we really want to see an outcome. I was invited this morning to 1 Parliament Street and Room B with a group of children from a Manchester school; I think they were about seven or eight. Th