Those who use social media to incite violence and disorder are breaking the law. Next week we will lay in Parliament an update to the Online Safety Act requiring services to take quicker action to remove illegal content circulating during times of crisis.

🚨 NEW: The family of the Belfast attempted beheading victim has called for calm "We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country. We depend on them to make our country work. We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people"

Big Tech companies like Apple and Google have been given three months to activate built in safeguards on smartphones and tablets to detect and block nude images for children. This will prevent predators from exploiting and abusing victims through their devices, as well as stopping children accessing pornography. If companies do not act within three months, the government will bring forward legislation to force them to activate the technology. This will include fines for companies and, as a last resort, we are exploring criminal liability for tech bosses who fail to comply. 91% of online child sexual abuse reports recorded in 2024 contained self‑generated content. Children as young as five are being groomed, manipulated and coerced by online predators into creating and sharing explicit images. Predators then use these images to blackmail children into creating more extreme content and, in the most horrific cases, children have committed suicide on livestream or engaged in self‑harm. These features are not about surveillance or policing people’s phones - they are about protecting our children from vile predators. Over‑18s will still be able to view adult content by providing proof of age. There is no data collection, no monitoring and no reporting. The device will simply block harmful content across all apps and services. This will make Britain the first country in the world where it is impossible for children to take, share or view naked pictures on their devices.

This government will not stand by while children are put at risk online. Today I am calling on the tech companies to introduce device-level controls to prevent children from taking, sharing or viewing nude images. And if they don’t act, we will.

I just can’t stop watching it

A Makerfield resident confronted Andy Burnham while he was out canvassing about his lack of support for the Rape Gang Enquiry… Credit: James Holmes

Farage, of course, has form. He did it after the Southport murders. He’s doing it again after the murder or Henry Nowak. He looks to divide and destroy rather than unite and build.

Statement: Deepest condolences to the family of Henry Nowak. Don’t let the far right divide us.