2 h. ago Keir Starmer tells MPs he is open to social media ban for young people

PM says he is alarmed at reports about children’s screen time and has shifted position on Australian-style policyUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has told MPs he is open to the idea of an Australian-style ban on social media for young people after becoming concerned about the amount of time children and teenagers are spending on their phones.The prime minister told Labour MPs on Monday evening he had become alarmed at reports about five-year-olds spending hours in front of screens each day, as well as increasingly worried about the damage social media is doing to under-16s. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Wishaw MSP praise for extra Scottish Government cash to tackle child poverty

The funding announced by First Minister John Swinney was originally earmarked to support the government mitigating the two-child limit before the UK Government scrapped it across the UK.

Politics

5 h. ago Can X be banned under UK law and what are the other options?

UK media regulator is investigating whether X has breached the Online Safety Act – what could happen next?The UK government is threatening Elon Musk’s X with the nuclear option under the country’s online safety laws: a ban. The social media platform is under pressure from ministers after it allowed the Grok AI tool, which is integrated within the app, to generate indecent images of unsuspecting women and children.The government has said it will support the media regulator Ofcom, which has launched an investigation into X, if it decides to push ahead with a ban. But is such a move likely? Continue reading...

Events

21 h. ago Social media is corrupting young minds – but a ban is not the answer | Zoe Williams

Kicking under-16s off the social platforms is tempting, but it ignores the root of the problem: the older generations who made them so toxic in the first placeKemi Badenoch is evolving into one of those politicians who, whatever she says, it’s not just likely to be wrong, it’s likely to be the opposite of what’s right. She says Greenland is not a big deal (a “second-order issue” is how she described it to the BBC) – it is a big deal. She says net zero is too expensive – the opposite is true: net-anything-but-zero is a cost we can’t afford.But her promise to ban under-16s from using social media, echoing Australia’s recent move, is hard to write off completely; people across the spectrum, including Andy Burnham, agree with it. Nobody who has ever met a teenager, or read the news, will be completely at ease with the role of social media in young lives. There are horrific effects, which have been well documented and inadequately addressed ever since the death of 14-year-old Molly Russe...

Politics

24 h. ago John Swinney stops short of endorsing social media ban for Scots under

The First Minister accepted there were “many strengths” to social media but also “many risks and threats”.

Politics

25 h. ago John Swinney 'not serious' about independence, claims Reform's Scottish leader

Malcolm Offord, a millionaire businessman and former donor to the Conservatives, is expected to be announced this week as the first Reform UK leader in Scotland.

Politics

27 h. ago UK’s Ofcom investigates X over Grok’s sexualised AI images of women and children

Media regulator threatens chatbot with ban or multimillion-pound fine

Events

32 h. ago Plastic particles from water bottles can kill pancreatic cells and cause diabetes, study finds

Previous research links tiny plastic particles to a range of adverse health conditions but largely stops short of establishing direct causal link

Events

34 h. ago Scots waiting half a decade for knee and hip operations as John Swinney claims NHS has 'turned a corner'

One patient in Tayside waited 2,049 days for a hip replacement, according to figures released by the NHS.

Politics

40 h. ago Meta blocked nearly 550,000 accounts in first days of Australia’s under

Tech giant says ongoing compliance will be a ‘multi-layered process’ as UK Labour faces pressure to bring in similar ban for teenagersFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMeta has deactivated more than half a million accounts for teenagers across Facebook, Instagram and Threads as a result of Australia’s under-16s social media ban, the company has announced.Just over one month since the ban came into effect, Meta announced on Monday that between 4 December, when the company began deactivating accounts, and 11 December, 544,052 accounts Meta believed to be held by users under 16 were deactivated. Continue reading...

Politics

47 h. ago John Swinney accused of breaking own rules with £7.6k business

The First Minister took flights and subsistence worth nearly £7,600 for his trip to lobby Donald Trump over Scotch whisky tariffs in September

Economics

51 h. ago Mandelson praises Trump’s ‘graciousness’ and declines to apologise for friendship with Jeffrey Epstein – UK politics live

In first TV interview since he was sacked as UK ambassador to US, Mandelson says association with Epstein was ‘terrible mistake’ but adds: ‘I was not culpable’Laura Kuenssberg asks Peter Mandelson if he liked Donald Trump when he was the UK ambassador.Mandelson says he did like Trump, listing of numerous reasons why, but said he did not like all of his “language”.I like him, yes, I liked his humour, his graciousness I liked his directness. You knew exactly what he was thinking and where you stood and what he wanted. And how he was proposing to engage, with you. Did I like in all his language? No, I didn’t, did I? Did he make me gasp? What’s going to happen is there’s going to be, another discussion, a lot of consultation and a lot of negotiation.At the end of the day, we are all going to have to wake up to the reality that the Arctic needs securing against China and Russia. Continue reading...

Politics

53 h. ago Government faces call from teachers to ban social media for under

'Teachers are dealing every day with the fallout of a social media landscape not originally designed and not suitable for children'

Politics

3 d. ago Musk hits out at ‘fascist’ UK as row over X and its Grok AI escalates

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said she would back regulator Ofcom if it sought to ban the social media platform and its AI.

Events

3 d. ago Elon Musk says UK wants to suppress free speech as X faces possible ban

Ministers warn platform could be blocked after Grok AI used to create sexual images without consentElon Musk has accused the UK government of wanting to suppress free speech after ministers threatened fines and a possible ban for his social media site X after its AI tool, Grok, was used to make sexual images of women and children without their consent.The billionaire claimed Grok was the most downloaded app on the UK App Store on Friday night after ministers threatened to take action unless the function to create sexually harassing images was removed. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago John Swinney seems to have a political death wish over rights for trans prisoners

The SNP government is threatening equalities legislation as it attempts to defend sending trans women who commit crimes to women’s prisons

Events

4 d. ago John Swinney 'worried' his son may have to fight in a future war due to 'turbulent international times'

The First Minister spoke of the pain his mother endured after her brother was killed aged just 21 in the final days of the Second World War.

Events

4 d. ago Almond Valley MSP welcomes extra bank holiday for Scotland's World Cup clash

First Minister John Swinney has confirmed he will propose Monday 15 June 2026 as a national bank holiday, to mark Scotland’s participation in the tournament for the first time in almost 30 years.

Politics

5 d. ago John Swinney accuses Nigel Farage of 'basic racism' over who can claim child benefits

The SNP leader claimed Nigel Farage was "quite actively engaged in a competition with the Conservative Party to be the nastiest of all parties"

Events

6 d. ago John Swinney independence plan is 'cynical attempt to blame voters', says ex

EXCLUSIVE: The former SNP minister said the independence campaign should not be "constrained by party management or internal calculations".

Politics