Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the UK politics blog, follow along to get the latest updates.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper is in France today for the meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Vaux-de-Cernay, near Paris, where she is expected to speak with US secretary of state Marco Rubio. On top of the agenda is the conflict in the Middle East, with reports suggesting Rubio will ask ministers for help reopening the strait of Hormuz.
In early comments ahead of the summit, Cooper said Iran “cannot hold the global economy hostage”, adding that she wants to see a “swift resolution” to the Middle East crisis.
She also expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s ties with Iran “that have been longstanding in terms of shared capabilities”. The US and European powers have accused Russia of helping Iran target US forces in the region, which Moscow has denied.
Russia and Iran have significantly deepened their military and strategic ties since Moscow’s continuing invasion of Ukraine. The Russians have used Iranian drones extensively during the war and the two countries have devised ways to circumvent western sanctions to sell oil abroad.
Prime minister Keir Starmer said the Iran and Ukraine wars could have “huge implications” for the future and could reshape the global order.
“How they end and on what terms could well define us for a generation,” he told Sky News.
In other news:
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Starmer is visiting a school in London this morning, as new government guidance advices parents to limit screen time for children under the age of five to one hour a day, while under-twos should not be watching screens alone.
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Peter Mandelson will reportedly be asked to hand over messages from his personal phone as part of the government’s disclosure of documents related to his appointment as UK ambassador to the US. The government has so far only had access to his work phone. Starmer told Sky News that he “beats himself up” over Mandelson’s appointment, saying it was a mistake he would never repeat.
Key events
‘Complete rewiring of childhood’ due to social media, says children and families minister
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.
Speaking on the new government guidance for parents of young children, he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “We’re trying to help create some new social norms.
“There’s no judgment. It’s much easier to say these things than it is to do them, I appreciate.”
Pictures: Keir Starmer meets pupils during a visit to a school in West Dulwich, south London, to talk about the government’s new guidance for parents on screen time for under-fives.
The prime minister spoke briefly about people’s concerns over the impact of the Iran war on the cost of living.
“I know that, because of what’s going in on the Iran war, people are really worried,” Keir Starmer told parents and teachers during a visit to a school in London.
“I think, first and foremost, they’re worried by what they see on their screens about the conflict, but also this deep sense inside: will it affect me? Is it going to mean my energy bills go up? Is it going to be more expensive to fill up the car?”
Fuel duty remains frozen until September, but Starmer did not say what would happen after that.
He said the energy price cap will protect most households until the end of June and “we’re obviously looking at what we can do after that”.
Keir Starmer said he understands there are “strong views” on both sides of the debate over whether social media should be banned for under-16s.
He said: “We are consulting at the moment on whether there should be a social media ban for under-16s. There are strong views on that either way, and we’re looking at how that might work, what the variations on it might be.”
He said the government was also working on how to tackle “addictive” content, saying algorithms in social media “try to keep adults and children on social media for a long time”.
He highlighted how chatbots were “not sufficiently controlled” and that the government was “passing a new provision to deal with that”.
Starmer: Keeping children off screens ‘will require a fight’ with social media platforms
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.
Speaking at a school in south London about the new government guidance for parents of young children, he said: “Some of this will require a fight. If we’re going to do more to protect children, we’re going to have to fight some of the platforms that are putting the material up there, because they’re putting this addictive stuff up there for a reason.
“They want more children, spend more time online, and we’ve got to fight them.”
Keir Starmer is at a school in south London today, as new government guidance advises parents to limit screen time for children under five to no more than an hour a day.
Screen time for children under two should be avoided except for shared activities encouraging interaction, families are advised.
In addition, the government is considering Australia-style measures to limit or ban social media for under-16s.
Starmer said the guidance would help families keep children safe and ensure they build healthy habits with screens.
The Guardian’s Jamie Grierson has more on this story here:
Starmer: Iran war could ‘define us for a generation’
Earlier this morning we heard comments from Keir Starmer about the wars in Iran and Ukraine, saying they would have “huge implications” for the future and could reshape the global order.
He said how the UK responds to that matters, as he wants to use the moment to “change the way the country is set up”.
“How they [the wars] end and on what terms could well define us for a generation,” he told Sky News.
“And that’s why it’s really important that we approach this with our values and principles. That’s what we’ve applied in Ukraine, and that’s what we’ve applied in Iran. And certainly we’re working with others to de-escalate the situation in Iran.”
He added: “As we come out of this, the response is going to matter, and we have to change the way the country is set up.
“We have to turn this into an opportunity to change that country for the better.”
While we wait to hear more from the G7 meeting of foreign ministers, over in Scotland, Reform UK’s Scottish leader has hit out at “fake outrage” over a joke he made about the late singer George Michael, which he acknowledged was “probably” homophobic.
“The fake outrage on this has been quite astonishing in the media,” Malcolm Offord told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme.
“I have had a huge amount of public support from people on this, ‘you told a bad joke and you apologised for it Malcolm, what is the big deal?’”
The joke was made at a rugby club dinner in 2018, but details of his remarks emerged this week as political leaders hit the campaign trail ahead of the Scottish parliament elections in May.
When asked if his joke was homophobic, Offord said it “probably was”, adding: “It was a mistake.
“I don’t have any issue with homophobia, I’ve got a lot of gay friends.”
The second day of the G7 meeting near Paris is under way. We heard from Yvette Cooper earlier this morning before the summit began, saying she and other foreign ministers will discuss the conflict in the Middle East “where we want to see a swift resolution that reaches regional stability and security and opens the strait of Hormuz”.
The narrow waterway, one of the world’s busiest oil shipping channels, has been effectively closed since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February, with Tehran threatening to attack vessels in retaliation. The closure has sent oil and gas prices soaring around the world, particularly in Asia, where the crisis is impacting daily life.
“Iran cannot be able to just hold the the global economy hostage as a result of a strait which is about international shipping routes and the freedom of navigation that has been so strongly supported at the United Nations, but also by countries across the world,” Cooper said.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the UK politics blog, follow along to get the latest updates.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper is in France today for the meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Vaux-de-Cernay, near Paris, where she is expected to speak with US secretary of state Marco Rubio. On top of the agenda is the conflict in the Middle East, with reports suggesting Rubio will ask ministers for help reopening the strait of Hormuz.
In early comments ahead of the summit, Cooper said Iran “cannot hold the global economy hostage”, adding that she wants to see a “swift resolution” to the Middle East crisis.
She also expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s ties with Iran “that have been longstanding in terms of shared capabilities”. The US and European powers have accused Russia of helping Iran target US forces in the region, which Moscow has denied.
Russia and Iran have significantly deepened their military and strategic ties since Moscow’s continuing invasion of Ukraine. The Russians have used Iranian drones extensively during the war and the two countries have devised ways to circumvent western sanctions to sell oil abroad.
Prime minister Keir Starmer said the Iran and Ukraine wars could have “huge implications” for the future and could reshape the global order.
“How they end and on what terms could well define us for a generation,” he told Sky News.
In other news:
-
Starmer is visiting a school in London this morning, as new government guidance advices parents to limit screen time for children under the age of five to one hour a day, while under-twos should not be watching screens alone.
-
Peter Mandelson will reportedly be asked to hand over messages from his personal phone as part of the government’s disclosure of documents related to his appointment as UK ambassador to the US. The government has so far only had access to his work phone. Starmer told Sky News that he “beats himself up” over Mandelson’s appointment, saying it was a mistake he would never repeat.
