Starmer wants to ban children from social media. Jack Watson, 17, argues the Government is making a serious mistake – in his experience, the benefits of social media outweigh the costs.

The post As a 17 Year-Old Who Has Spent my Entire Life on Social Media, I Think the Benefits Outweigh the Costs appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Suspect is remanded in custody for four weeks, as PM tells PMQs resulting disorder is ‘totally unjustified’

• Man charged with attempted murder after Belfast knife attack

• Tell us: how have you been affected by the situation in Belfast?

Hadi Alodid refused legal representation and made no reply to charges which were put put to him through an Arabic interpreter as he appeared in court charged with attempted murder following the Belfast knife attack, the Press Association reports.

The 30-year-old, with an address at Duncairn Avenue in Belfast, appeared before the city’s magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning.

He is charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie on Monday, with threatening to kill an NHS radiographer on the same day and with the possession of a knife.

Inmates in England and Wales live among vermin while gangs control entire wings, monitors warn, with failures ‘at risk of becoming normalised’

• Staff at immigration detention centre wore England flags, report finds

The independent monitoring board’s annual report of conditions across the prison estate of England and Wales is stark and unflinching.

Men and women are held for long periods in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, often living alongside vermin.

Irlanda del Norte ha visto cómo volvía a repetirse la violencia callejera de los dos últimos años, cuando las protestas contra la población inmigrante desencadenaron enfrentamientos con el resultado de más de 100 policías heridos y decenas de detenidos. El intento, en la noche del lunes, de un hombre de origen sudanés de unos 30 años de decapitar a otro varón de unos 40 en el norte de Belfast con un cuchillo de cocina ha alterado los ánimos y estimulado los temores de gran parte de la población norirlandesa.

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Crowds gather at sites across Belfast after Sudanese man charged with attempted murder

• Full report: Man seriously injured in Belfast stabbing Starmer describes as ‘sickening’

Badenoch said, after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, it was right that people wanted to ensure this did not happen again.

It led to the Macpherson report, she said.

[It] wanted to put right what went wrong with policing in the 1990s.

However, in attempting to do so, it also enshrined a principle which I believe is wrong that a racist incident is racist if it is perceived as racist by the victim or any other person.

Equality law, properly designed, should protect us all in the same way. It should be a shield, not a sword.

It should protect people from discrimination. It should protect people from being treated differently because of their race, sex, religion, sexuality, disability or age.

As the Makerfield byelection and a potential leadership challenge loom, there is a sense the PM is looking to create impacts that last

As the weeks ticked down to her departure from Downing Street in 2019, Theresa May had a plan. Not only did she want to put a net zero target into law, but she wanted the UK to be the first major economy to do so. And that meant beating the French.

“It required the machinery of government to move more quickly than the French parliament,” a No 10 official from the time recalls. And it worked: the UK target came into force in June 2019, six weeks before May handed over to Boris Johnson, and five months before the French. She had her legacy.

In a wide-ranging interview, an upbeat Ukrainian president also discusses Donald Trump, King Charles, and how Kyiv is prepared to share its experience of drone warfare with the west

Sitting down with the Guardian in London, Volodymyr Zelenskyy seems cheerful. More than four years after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, he believes Europe’s biggest war since 1945 appears to be slowly turning in Ukraine’s favour. The military situation is the most promising it has been for Kyiv for two and a half years, Zelenskyy says. “We can’t say Russia is losing this war. But we can say they are losing the initiative each day, day by day,” he insists.

Over the past week the Kremlin has suffered a series of setbacks. Long-range Ukrainian drones have hit Putin’s home city of St Petersburg, setting fire to oil terminals and sending smoke billowing above the skyline. Similar attacks have crippled occupied Crimea. A key supply road is littered with burning lorries and tankers and the peninsula seized by Russia in 2014 is experiencing severe fuel shortages.

Exclusive: Ukrainian president says ‘small mistake can break a big friendship’ in wide-ranging interview with Guardian

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the decision by some Reform UK councils to take down the Ukrainian flag was the kind of “small mistake that can break a big friendship”, as he underlined the significance of strong bilateral relations.

The Ukrainian president tempered his rare foray into UK domestic politics by stressing how much the two countries “need each other” in the battle against Russia, which he said posed a threat not only to Ukraine but to Britain too.

Molly Rose Foundation says government should instead set strict safety standards for apps

A rushed under-16s social media ban in the UK could unravel and families would be left to count the cost, a leading child safety charity has warned.

The Molly Rose Foundation (MRF) said an age limit on the use of tech platforms could unravel, after it was reported that the prime minister, Keir Starmer, would announce a ban on under-16s accessing “harmful” social media apps.

Britain, France, and Germany backed Ukraine's terms for ending the war after meeting its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London, according to their joint statement. They endorsed Kyiv's push for direct talks with Moscow and an immediate ceasefire, while spelling out what a lasting peace would require. The leaders also called for tightening the squeeze on Russia's war economy and scaling up Ukraine's air defenses.

Five conditions for peace

Meeting on 7 June, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz set out five conditions for a just and lasting peace. The E3, as the three are known, are Ukraine's leading European backers. Their terms:

• An immediate, complete ceasefire, which they urged Putin to accept.
• The current front line as the starting point for talks, with no borders changed by force and Ukraine free to choose its alliances.
• Robust, legally binding security guarantees once a ceasefire holds, building on the allies' December 2025 Berlin and January 2026 Paris commitments, including a multinational force in Ukraine. 
• Russian assets remain immobilized until Moscow ends its aggression and compensates Ukraine.
• European interests safeguarded, with any EU- or NATO-related terms requiring both blocs' consent.

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“It was never formulated as Ukraine winning”—NATO’s ex-military chief on the missing strategy

Backing for direct talks with Moscow

The leaders commended Ukraine's president for his 4 June letter to Putin calling to end the war. They backed direct Ukraine-Russia dialogue, with the US and Europe actively taking part, to secure a ceasefire. Europe must play a role in any settlement, they said, working closely with Kyiv, the rest of Europe, and Washington.

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Germany, France, and UK sketch plan to bring Putin to the negotiating table

Pressure on Russia and more air defense

They denounced Russia's barrage of missiles and drones, including repeated strikes with the Oreshnik, a Russian missile. They also condemned dangerous Russian drone incursions into NATO territory and offered condolences to the victims. The leaders welcomed Ukraine's recent battlefield gains, from liberated territory to advances in drone warfare. They agreed to coordinate more support at the coming G7 summit in Evian, the next Coalition of the Willing meeting, and the NATO summit in Ankara. That includes choking off more of Russia's wartime revenue and a bigger military pledge at the NATO talks. They also urged scaling up interceptor production and co-developing anti-ballistic and deep-strike weapons.

Starmer is set to ban under-16s from social media altogether within days – with fines for mobile phone manufacturers that don't comply.

The post Starmer Poised to Ban Under-16s From Social Media in ‘Australian-Plus’ Crackdown appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Keir Starmer says he will fight on as prime minister, but behind the scenes he is said to be thinking about his legacy. He’s talking this week about tech companies and the shape of a social media ban, but he is also focussed on resetting the UK’s relations with EU and defence. Pippa and Kiran discuss what his legacy might be and the role Andy Burnham has to play

El Gobierno del Reino Unido ha planteado este lunes un ultimátum a las grandes tecnológicas que controlan los aparatos a través de los que los menores llegan a las redes sociales y a internet. Si antes de septiembre compañías como Google o Apple no desarrollan algún tipo de solución técnica o alguna funcionalidad interna que pueda detectar y bloquear el acceso, la captación o la distribución de imágenes de desnudos por parte de esos menores, será el propio Gobierno quien imponga esa tecnología y castigue con sanciones firmes a las empresas que incumplan.

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Former safeguarding minister says if ban came into force properly it could ‘basically eliminate’ problem

The government has highlighted work done by the internet safety firm SafeToNet as showing that the technology is already in place that would allow tech companies to stop children using phones to take naked pictures of themselves, or other people. The Home Office says:

Measures to protect children already exist within smartphones and tablets, but are applied inconsistently, often switched off by default and only blurring content rather than blocking it. But the government is working closely with technology companies — some of whom, like Apple, have already taken steps to implement protective features — to make this goal a reality.

Companies must introduce these measures without threatening privacy or collecting any data. The device should simply block harmful content across all apps and services. Over-18s will still be able to view adult content by providing proof of age.

The government is right to act. Children have been failed for too long. This news will be welcomed by parents across the UK and hopefully, will inspire other countries to follow the UK’s lead.

We can put an end to so much online misery with this approach. SafeToNet’s HarmBlock technology is a proven example that it is possible to make the device safe by default and not as some optional add-on.

The changes will apply to UK devices, including both existing and newly sold smartphones and tablets. Legislation could cover operating system providers and others in the supply chain, such as retailers, and will not affect the use of devices owned and used by adults who verify their age …

Apple recently introduced age checks for iPhone users, making it the first company to activate safety features by default for those who are not verified as over 18. This is a significant step forward following the government’s commitments to work with industry, and one this announcement builds on.

Companies such as Apple and Google have until September to install software or face legislation, says PM

• UK politics live – latest updates

Apple and Google have been given until September to install software that blocks explicit images on children’s mobile phones or face legislation enforcing its requirement, Keir Starmer said on Monday.

The prime minister said tech companies must activate nudity-detection algorithms or other technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to prevent users taking photos or sharing images of genitalia unless they are verified as adults.