Closing summary
That’s all from us on the UK politics blog, thanks for following along. Here is a recap of the day’s developments:
Keir Starmer said keeping children off mobile phones, tablets and TV screens “will require a fight” with social media platforms that put up addictive content online. His comments follow new government guidance that advises parents to limit screen time for children under five to no more than an hour a day.
Josh MacAlister, the minister for children and families, said there has been “a complete rewiring of childhood” over the last decade due to social media and screen time. He said the new government guidance is designed to help parents and not to make them feel judged.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said Iran “cannot hold the global economy hostage” as she met with US secretary of state Marco Rubio and other officials in France today for the meeting of G7 foreign ministers.
Peter Mandelson will be asked to supply messages from his personal phone as part of the government’s disclosure of documents related to his appointment as UK ambassador to the US. Concerns have been raised that messages might be lost after Starmer’s former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney had his mobile phone stolen last year.
The prime minister said there is “a very strong case” for the government to apologise for its role in historical forced adoption in the UK. A report from the Commons education committee published today said the government should offer an unqualified apology as a step towards giving survivors “peace”.
Starmer plans to make London’s mayor Sadiq Khan a lord and may offer him a role in his cabinet, the Financial Times reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Ministers are facing pressure to appoint a Conservative former cabinet minister as the new chair of the media regulator Ofcom, as he battles for the role against a Labour peer.
The job of running the regulator has become a key post in public life amid concern over the rapid growth of online content and the rise of more politically partisan broadcasting. No successor has been named to replace Michael Grade, the former BBC chair who has just weeks left in the job.
It is understood there is a push to convince Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, to give the job to the former culture secretary and sitting Conservative MP Jeremy Wright, who was involved in the drafting of laws to tackle harmful online content.
The legal pitfalls Ofcom is facing in implementing the new Online Safety Act have led to claims of paralysis at the regulator.
Wright has been shortlisted alongside the businessperson and former Channel 4 chair Ian Cheshire and the former Labour MP and life peer Margaret Hodge. Insiders believe the race is now between Wright and Hodge.
Read the full report here:
