Keir Starmer has bottled it again - we need action not lily-livered advice

Sir Keir Starmer has bottled it. He won’t follow Australia and ban social media use for under 16s. Instead, at an unspecified time, his government will “issue guidelines” about smartphone use. Wait, what? Haven’t they already done that? Didn’t they trot out something entitled: “Screen Time Guidance for Parents of under-fives” in March? Didn’t it feature ‘advice’ so anaemically wishy-washy no-one took an iota of notice? Didn’t it include instructing parents of under-twos to “avoid screen time other than for shared activities that encourage bonding, interaction and conversation”. In other words: ‘Give your baby a smartphone, let them stare fixedly at the screen and occasionally lean over and say ‘doggie’. Didn’t it tell parents of two to five-year-olds to “Try to keep it to no more than one hour a day?”

Try? Talk about feeble. Adults are not asked to try not to drink and drive. We are not tentatively invited to consider going no faster than 20mph in a 20mph zone. We are not cordially requested to have a bash at paying income tax. Starmer and his lily-livered crew are terrified of being thought judgemental. Silicon Valley bosses make no bones about keeping their own children off devices and away from social media.

Experts identify plugging children into smartphones causes depression, inability to concentrate, lack of sleep and interference in the development of neural pathways. Adults admit to being desperate for a digital detox yet incapable of detaching from their devices. We deplore the addictive algorithms deliberately created to keep us online. We regret the time we squander hopelessly, helplessly doomscrolling. Yet we find ourselves inexorably drawn to doing it on repeat.

If we can’t save ourselves, how on earth can we rescue our children? Parents (and concerned grandparents) are crying out for robust government intervention. We know we are ill-equipped to navigate uncharted technical territory. We don’t want our young people to be socially isolated weirdos, unable to fit in or form friendships because ours is the only family imposing a social media ban. Yet we are terrified of the dark forces, violence, misogyny, predatory strangers, deepfakes, pornography, bullying, pressure, competitiveness and Lord knows what else looming online to threaten our children’s equanimity.

We need urgent preventative action from the Prime Minister. Parents must be told not to pacify children with screens. This is the time for courage, not cowardice. Bite the bullet, Sir Keir, and make handing children devices as unacceptable as giving them a lit cigarette.