Keir Starmer not in favour of smartphone ban for under-16s

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is not in favour of banning mobile phone for under-16s, but suggested there should be stronger controls around what content children can access on the devices.

The Prime Minister said his teenage children have phones but declined to say whether their use is restricted.

It comes as Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, is campaigning for an age limit for smartphone usage and stricter controls on access to social media apps.

Asked about whether he limits his 13-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son’s mobile phone use, Sir Keir told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Our children have mobile phones and I’m not in favour of simply banning them for children under 16.

“I think there’s a serious question as to what the content is and the control of the content and that is something where I think we need to look again.”

The Prime Minister, who has repeatedly expressed concerns about his children’s privacy, refused to say whether their screen time is controlled.

Speaking to the programme during his trip to Washington DC for the Nato summit, he said: “I’m not going to start introducing them into interviews if you don’t mind because I’ve taken a strong decision with my wife that we will not be bringing our children into politics.

“But generally, I do think we should look at what is available online to children, but in relation to simply banning phones for under 16s, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t think that’s a practical way forward.

“But I do think I will sit down with anyone to look at how we’ll put in place better protections because all parents and everybody across the country is concerned about what can actually be accessed on a phone.”

Earlier this year, the Department for Education issued non-statutory guidance to schools in England intended to stop the use of mobile phones during school hours.

But the House of Commons Education Committee said this did not go far enough.

In a report in May, the MPs on the panel said the next government should consider a statutory ban on mobile phones in schools and a total ban on phones for under-16s.

Outlining some of the “serious dangers” posed to children online, they called for tougher guidance on how to manage children’s screen time at home to better protect young people’s mental and physical health.

The report said the next government should consult on raising the age of digital consent from 13 to 16, pointing to a rise in children’s screen time and phone use that is consistent with a behavioural addiction.

It said the Online Safety Act, which puts responsibility on social media firms to protect children from harmful material, would play a role in keeping children safe from online harms, but not until the Act was fully implemented in 2026.