Yet ANOTHER Labour U-turn? Sir Keir Starmer opens the door to Australia-style social media ban for under-16s to see off major backbench rebellion

Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to hit a new low after Labor paved the way for an Australian-style ban on children using social media.

The Government has announced plans to consult on a ban on social media for under-16s, just weeks after the Prime Minister said he opposed such a restriction.

The move marks Labor’s 14th major U-turn since coming to power and comes as a last-ditch effort to thwart an impending backbench rebellion.

The Prime Minister was forced to act before the Lords vote on an amendment to the Children’s Welfare and Schools Act that would ban under-16s from social media.

If it passes, Sir Keir faces the prospect of a major backbencher when he returns to the House of Commons following a public call by more than 60 Labor MPs for the UK to follow Australia, which last month became the first country to ban social media for young people.

It comes just a week after Business Minister Peter Kyle, one of the Prime Minister’s closest allies, said he did not support an outright ban because it was ‘not the right way to go’.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir said last month that he personally did not support a ban, arguing it was ‘about how you control what content children can see’ rather than a ‘blanket ban’.

The announcement will be seen as a victory for the Conservatives after Kemi Badenoch put pressure on the Prime Minister by saying she would block under-16s from social media if she wins the next election.

The move will be seen as a victory for the Conservatives after Kemi Badenoch put pressure on the Prime Minister by promising that under-16s would be blocked from social media if he wins the next election.

But on Monday the Conservative Party leader condemned the ‘impotent’ Sir Keir for announcing a new consultation rather than taking immediate action to protect young people from social media.

‘This announcement perfectly sums up Keir Starmer’s impotence. This isn’t even a real U-turn, it’s just another consultation,’ Ms Badenoch said.

‘The Prime Minister is trying to copy the statement the Conservatives made a week ago but still can’t get it right. The damage social media is doing to children is undeniable and the Conservatives will remove children from these adult platforms altogether.

‘In contrast, there is further indecision and delay from Starmer and a Labor party completely out of ideas.’

The government will consult on ‘setting the correct minimum age for children to access social media, including investigating a ban on children under a certain age’.

Other options to be discussed include restricting nighttime use through curfews, limiting application time, and restricting addictive design features such as ‘infinite scrolling’.

The government has said it will respond to the consultations in the summer and ministers hope the announcement will remove the immediate threat of rebellion.

A recent poll by YouGov found that 74 per cent of Britons support a social media ban on under-16s, while only 19 per cent oppose it; which suggests that any public consultation could force the Government to adopt a ban.

Murdered Brianna Ghey’s mother (pictured) pressures Sir Keir Starmer to support banning under-16s from using social media

Esther Ghey, whose daughter was killed by two 15-year-olds when she was 16, called on the Prime Minister to support the introduction of new restrictions

It comes after 61 Labor MPs wrote to the Prime Minister last weekend calling for ‘urgent action’ to raise the minimum age for social media platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram to 16.

MPs included former whip Vicky Foxcroft, who led the rebellion that forced the Government to scrap proposed benefit cuts last year.

On Monday, Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, joined voices calling for a ban in a letter to Sir Keir, urging him to ‘take vital action to better protect children online’.

“I speak not only as Brianna’s mother, but also alongside the many other grieving parents who have lost children to harm that began or was magnified online,” she wrote, along with 10 other grieving parents.

Calling for a legal ban on phones in schools and tougher action against social media giants through the Online Safety Act, Ms Ghey added: ‘The online world our children live in and the harm it brings is enormous.

‘To properly address this crisis we need a multifaceted approach that includes legislation, regulation, education and social change.’

The ban was also backed by paediatrician Baroness Hilary Cass, who reviewed the NHS’s treatment of children with gender dysphoria, and warned that “the longer we wait, the more children we will fail”.

Other measures announced by the government include Ofsted inspectors being tasked with checking whether mobile phone bans in schools are being appropriately enforced and new screen time guidance for parents.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: ‘We have made it clear that mobile phones have no place in our schools but now we are going further with tougher guidance and stronger enforcement. Cell phones have no place in schools. ‘No ifs, no buts.’

But shadow education secretary Laura Trott said guidance on mobile phone bans in schools had so far failed and the Government now ‘needs to legislate’.

He added: ‘This is progress, but it doesn’t go far enough. ‘We don’t need to ask whether a ban is necessary, the evidence is so strong.’

Despite the concession, concerns remain among some in the Government that the Australian ban is not as simple as expected.

Authorities and child safety advocates worry about the unintended consequences of an outright ban, including fears it could push children onto the dark web.

Last weekend, 42 child protection charities and online safety groups, including the NSPCC and the Molly Rose Foundation, published a statement warning that a blanket social media ban would not deliver the improvement needed in child safety and would treat ‘the symptoms, not the problem’.

The organizations said the Government should instead strengthen the Online Safety Act to require platforms to strongly enforce risk-based age limits.

An outright ban is also opposed by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who has said he believes the UK should delay the ban until Australian measures are reviewed.

Technology Minister Liz Kendall said: ‘Through the Online Safety Act this government has already taken clear and concrete steps to deliver a safer online world for our children and young people.

‘These laws were never intended to be the be-all end-all, and we know parents still have serious concerns. That’s why I’m ready to take further steps.

‘Technology has huge potential to create jobs, transform public services and improve lives. But we can only tap into this potential if people know that they and their children are safe online.

‘We are determined to ensure that technology enriches children’s lives and does not harm them, and to give every child the childhood they deserve.’