Caroline Voaden MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 10 Feb 2025 · Inheritance Tax Relief: Farms · Hansard source

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  In my constituency we did a survey of all the farmers to see whether the Government’s figures stood up. The Government claim that 73% of family farms will be unaffected by the change in tax relief, but 85% of the farmers who responded to our survey believed they would be affected, with an average inheritance tax bill of £637,000 because of the extortionate cost of land in South Devon. That is nearly £64,000 a year in tax every year for 10 years. Does the hon. Lady agree that this is unworkable, and will see the decimation of our family farms?

• 10 Feb 2025 · Inheritance Tax Relief: Farms · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I rise to speak on behalf of the 477 people in South Devon who signed the petition, which is almost exactly the same as the number of farms in my constituency. It is clear from the number of people in this room and the number of people outside what the strength of feeling is about a tax that has caused severe distress across the farming community, yet is expected to raise only around £115 million a year, which is less than 0.01% of Government spending, or less than 0.3% of the tax rises announced in the Budget. Does the Minister think it is really worth all the pain for that amount of gain? We have talked a lot today about farmers. The rural economy is heavily dependent on farmers but goes much wider than just the farmers themselves. The impact of the change will be enormous in rural communities like mine. The knock-on effect will affect feed, equipment and machinery suppliers, agricultural engineers, the shops that stock high-quality local meat and vegetables, seasonal employment, and all those who benefit from the visitors who camp on farms or stay in farm-based holiday accommodation. I urge the Minister to think about that. Farmers are key to tackling climate change and the nature crisis and are crucial to our food security, so why do we want to place them under yet more pressure after all the challenges they have already faced in the last decade, including the damaging trade deals, the poorly managed transition to environmental land management schemes, a botched deal with the EU that has limited their ability to export, higher input and energy prices, and of course floods? This is a toxic mess for farmers, so we carried out a survey of all the farms in my South Devon constituency to find out exactly what the reality is on the ground in the face of this tax change. Of the farmers who responded to our survey, 85% believe they will be affected by the changes, and 90% of the farms are likely to be inherited by the direct descendants of the current owner. The average farm value is £4.15 million, with the highest being £15 million. The price of land in South Hams is among the highest in the country. Farmers did not cause those land prices to skyrocket. The influx of rich second home owners and the honeypot effect has done that, and farmers in my constituency are having to pay for it. The average bill in South Devon will be £637,000. That is nearly £64,000 in tax every year for 10 years. That tax will not only decimate the family farms of South Devon but have a major knock-on effect on food production. One farmer said: “The policy as it currently stands will halve food production in a generation.” I have hundreds of quotes that I cannot read out, but I will cite a family whose farm has been in their family since the Domesday Book. They said they will have to sell at least 25% of the farm assets, which could mean that their children are unable to inherit a farm that goes back to the Domesday Book.

• 10 Feb 2025 · Inheritance Tax Relief: Farms · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 5 Feb 2025 · English Devolution and Local Government · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for her statement, and on behalf of my constituents I thank her for giving people the opportunity to vote and give their verdict on the failing Conservative-run Devon county council, which has been badly failing our most vulnerable children for the past decade. Devon is a huge rural area, and there are concerns that if it becomes a unitary it could end up devolving power away from people in a sparsely populated area, and moving the centre of power away from local communities, which does not feel like devolution. Will the Secretary of State clarify what size of unitary authority she will be looking for? Part of Torbay is in my constituency—it is one of the smallest unitaries in the country, with 139,000 people. Will it be allowed to continue as a unitary, or will it be required to be part of a greater whole?

• 4 Feb 2025 · Bereaved Parents: Birth Certificates · Hansard source

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  Twenty-two years ago, I became part of a club that no one wants to join: the young widows club. My husband Nick died of oesophageal cancer, and I was left with an 18-month-old baby and a toddler. Over the course of the next couple of years, I met dozens of young widows, including Beth, whose husband Simon had died of bowel cancer just two days before their beautiful baby daughter Elsa was born. Beth and I navigated this strange and unwelcome new reality together, spending time with our three little girls, who were all too young to understand the awfulness of what had happened. Beth was part of an even smaller, even more unlucky club than me: the one where you have to give birth alone, to a baby you have longed for, while at the same time grieving for the partner you have lost and the future you will never share. For many of those tragically unlucky women, it gets even worse. Every year in the UK, around 200 young bereaved women are drawn into a ridiculous, unnecessary and costly legal battle to have their baby’s father’s name registered on the birth certificate. Incredibly, in 2025, if a woman is pregnant when their partner dies but they are not married, the law says that they cannot automatically name the father on the birth certificate. If ever there was a case of adding insult to injury, that has to be it. The law seems to think that if a woman is legally married, there is no question but that her baby is her husband’s. But if she has been living in a committed relationship, perhaps for years on end, the fact that she does not have a ring on her finger means that the paternity of her child is in question. Having been through the unimaginable experience of losing her partner while carrying his child, and then giving birth alone, she is then expected to enter into a legal process to prove that he was indeed the father, so that the child does not grow up with a blank space on their birth certificate. This is out of date, out of touch and, frankly, quite traumatic for all those involved. Women have described it as demeaning, insulting and overwhelming. The reality is that more and more couples are choosing to live together without getting married. In 2022, the number of children born outside marriage in the UK surpassed the number of babies born to parents who were married or in a civil partnership for the first time since records began in 1845, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. It is high time the law was updated to remove this anachronistic insult to unmarried mothers. Not long after I was widowed, I became involved with a brilliant organisation called WAY—Widowed and Young. It is where I met Beth and made many other lifelong friends. WAY has been running the Blank Space campaign to try to change this out-of-date law, which penalises people for not being married. I commend WAY for its campaigning and am proud to bring this issue before the Minister so that the anomaly can be addressed. The women I will talk about are all members of WAY, and I thank them for sharing their stories. Nicola and her partner Stewart had been through a successful in vitro fertilisation journey, which was needed because he had had testicular cancer 10 years earlier. Six weeks after a positive pregnancy test, they found out that Stewart’s cancer had returned, and he died seven months into Nicola’s pregnancy, so he never got the chance to meet the son he had so desperately fought for. Nicola booked an appointment with the registrar, knowing that she would be going alone, but she took as much paperwork as possible to show that Stewart was the father. She had a range of hospital documents signed by him, which not only proved that he was the father but detailed his documented wishes for their embryos if he were to die. However, the registrar explained to Nicola that because she and Stewart were not married, he had to be physically present to be named on the birth certificate. Her evidence did not count, and she was sent away with a birth certificate that had a blank space where Stewart’s name should have been. Nicola says: “We had made this baby together, literally and scientifically, and for him not to be recognised at all was devastating.” It took a year and over £1,000 to get to court. Stewart’s father went along to attend the hearing with Nicola, and it took just a few minutes for the court to discuss and approve the change, and to add Stewart’s name to the birth certificate. It was almost as if the court could not believe that she had had to go through the process in the first place. Given the overwhelming evidence and the support of blood relatives, it was the obvious decision. She says: “To have to go through this whilst bringing up a newborn on my own and grieving was utterly humiliating and exhausting.” I can attest to the fact that no young widow who is learning to be a mum and grieving at the same time should ever have to fight to have their partner listed on a birth certificate, and many of them cannot afford to do so, even if they wanted to. Paula was 18 weeks pregnant when her partner was killed while cycling to work. Despite having his DNA and a proven 99.9% match, it took three and a half years for her to get a birth certificate with his name on it, and the process cost nearly £3,000. Eleanor’s partner Robin was killed in a road traffic accident 18 days before his baby daughter was born. Eleanor says: “If you haven’t been through this situation, you may not understand how demeaning this rule is. It made me feel like I wasn’t to be trusted, as if an unmarried woman has no rights or voice. My partner and I lived together and planned to have a child—we just weren’t married. It wasn’t a one-night stand, and simple tax records would have proven that. While I shouldn’t have had to prove anything beyond my word, I would have willingly provided documentation and statements from both our families to confirm our relationship.” In the end, the complexity and expense of having to fight the system proved too much for Eleanor, so her daughter’s birth certificate was never changed and the blank space remains. These examples show just how difficult and cruel this situation is, and they also show that the process can be very different depending on where a woman lives, which court she applies to, and who hears the application. Like so many other things, it can become a bit of a postcode lottery. Under UK law, a birth needs to be registered within 42 days. If the parents are unmarried, they both have to be present to be named on the birth certificate—one parent cannot add the other. If a parent has died, the surviving parent can amend the birth certificate at a future date to include the deceased parent’s name, but they have to apply first to the family court for a declaration of parentage. This involves a form and a court fee of £365, and the court application takes three to four months to be processed. Then, at an initial court hearing, a senior family judge will consider the application. Many judges have never come across this process, and I have read stories of young widows not only having to go through the process themselves, but having to explain it to judges and court administrators while doing so. There may be a second hearing some months later, and in between there will be requests for DNA, evidence and witness statements. If the court approves, it will issue a document confirming that the deceased person was the child’s parent, and it then makes a declaration at a court hearing. This will then be sent to the registrar of births, deaths and marriages, and it can then take several more weeks for the re-registering of the birth to be completed. I am sure I do not need to tell Members that this is a tortuous process—one of those bits of bureaucracy that seems ridiculous when we spell out the whole process, as I have done here. At the best of times it would be frustrating and slow. At the worst of times, it can simply be too much to cope with. The paperwork of death is long, frustrating and sometimes complicated. I remember being told by one organisation that it had to have written confirmation from my husband to close an account, even though I had written to it to say that he had died. I would like to think that things have moved on in the last 23 years, but we seem to have created a system that overcomplicates everything. Clearly, it would not be right for someone to be able to put someone else’s name down on a birth certificate as the father without reasonable proof; what WAY is campaigning for is a way to resolve this issue so that women whose partners have died during pregnancy can follow a clear and simple process to register their partner on their child’s birth certificate. It should not cost thousands of pounds, and it should not be so complicated that some women just give up through frustration. In Switzerland, France and Germany, unmarried fathers can declare their parentage early in the pregnancy to protect their rights. We have parental responsibility agreements here for unmarried fathers, so perhaps one answer would be to bring that forward into pregnancy so that if the worst, most unimaginable tragedy happened during pregnancy, there would be one less thing for newly widowed mums to have to worry about. Doctors could make a record of who the father is when the pregnancy is first entered into medical records, and this could be used as a legal document. Advice could be given at antenatal appointments, bringing people’s attention to the issues that can arise for parents who are not married, so that they could be more aware. The executor could be called in as a witness to confirm paternity. There are ways around this if we are creative and clever. In honour of Nicola, Paula, Elanor and their children, I look forward to hearing how the Minister will take this dilemma forward and hopefully find an answer. When you are widowed young, you lose so much. You lose the partner you love, you lose the life you had built together and you lose the future you had planned. Your children lose their father—or sometimes their mother—their family is never the same again, and their lives will be shaped in many ways by the loss, however young they are when it happened. Being widowed when pregnant is all this and more. The trauma of birthing and grieving at the same time runs deep and lasts a lifetime. I really hope that the Government will move swiftly to make some changes so that one tiny little bit of this awful journey is made easier for those who have to navigate it.

• 3 Feb 2025 · School Accountability and Intervention · Hansard source

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  Headteachers in my constituency of South Devon have expressed some disappointment today at the reform in the Ofsted regime; they said it offered the opportunity for fundamental reform but they do not see that. For example, there are no details on how inclusion will be measured, which we know is absolutely crucial for addressing the SEND crisis. As this is such a key part of the new inspection process, can the Minister assure the House that details of how inclusion will be measured will be made available while there is still time for meaningful consultation?

• 29 Jan 2025 · Youth Mobility Scheme: EU · Hansard source

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  I apologise, Sir Jeremy. The Government are saying that they want to increase trade with the European Union. Could the Minister comment on how helpful he thinks it is when suggestions are put forward by the European Union? Last week, for example, we had a suggestion of a pan-European Mediterranean customs agreement, which could benefit the just-in-time supply trade and complex manufacturing in this country, but was instantly dismissed by the Government. Would the Minister like to comment on how helpful he thinks that is?

• 29 Jan 2025 · Youth Mobility Scheme: EU · Hansard source

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  The Government talk a lot about growth being crucial for restoring the public finances. Does my hon. Friend agree that sectors such as hospitality—it is important in my constituency of South Devon—are struggling from lack of staff? If we could restore a youth movement deal, we would have lots of enthusiastic European youngsters coming to the UK to learn English and help to boost productivity in that sector.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Youth Mobility Scheme: EU · Hansard source

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  Since the election, I have seen and heard lots of evidence of more conversations happening between the UK and the EU than did over the previous few years, so I accept what you are saying about a rapprochement and a more positive engagement. You say that the Government are keen to increase trade—

• 29 Jan 2025 · Youth Mobility Scheme: EU · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 28 Jan 2025 · Airport Expansion · Hansard source

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  Given the hugely contradictory evidence on whether expanding airport capacity will boost GDP growth, will the Minister explain how the Government can justify prioritising airport expansion over much-needed substantial investment in green travel and public transport, which would benefit the economy in the long term and benefit a far wider group of people in this country than the very small group of wealthy frequent flyers who will benefit from airport expansion?

• 28 Jan 2025 · Extremism Review · Hansard source

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  The horrendous events in Southport show that people who do not fit the profile of Islamist or far-right extremism can still present serious risk. Does the Minister agree that there is a real danger in the promotion of misogyny and opposition to feminism online and that to combat the scourge of violence against women and girls, which sees one woman murdered almost every three days in the UK, the Government must take misogyny seriously as a form of extremism?

• 27 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  In Devon, only 4.9% of EHCPs are received within 20 weeks. Conservative-run Devon county council has been utterly failing our children for the past 10 years. Will the Minister meet me to discuss what more we can do to support the council and turn things around for families, like that of my constituent James, who has had to wait two and a half years for the test that he needs to get an EHCP?

• 24 Jan 2025 · Climate and Nature Bill · Hansard source

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  Just last week, a report by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries—we know that by their very nature, actuaries are cautious people—stated that if we continue on our current path, a plausible worst case is that global GDP will collapse by 50% between 2070 and 2090, and that 4 billion lives could be lost by 2050. That is an unimaginable future. Does the shadow Minister agree that the cost of doing nothing will be way more than the cost of acting now?

• 17 Jan 2025 · New Homes (Solar Generation) Bill · Hansard source

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  When the zero carbon homes standard was scrapped by the Conservative Government in 2015, a Government report said that scrapping that standard was designed to reduce regulations on house builders. Many people said that the Conservative party had been put under considerable pressure by house builders who were very generous to that party. Will the shadow Minister reassure me that if this Bill reaches Committee, he will be in favour of putting pressure on the house builders to comply?

• 17 Jan 2025 · New Homes (Solar Generation) Bill · Hansard source

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  There has been a lot of conversation this morning about the benefit to homeowners of installing solar panels on new builds. If solar panels were included on new social housing, we would also be helping those who face the greatest challenge in paying energy bills, which have gone up since the energy price cap rise. That is an added benefit in the cost of living crisis.

• 16 Jan 2025 · Marine Renewables Industry · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) for securing this debate. As the Member for South Devon, I am proud to represent a constituency with a long and rich history of maritime activity. From the bustling port of Brixham to the naval port of Dartmouth, the sea is very much part of our identity. It is for that reason that I am here today in firm support of the development of marine renewable energy. However, progress must be pursued in a way that respects and supports our fishing industry, ensuring that these two vital sectors can thrive side by side. The UK is a global leader in renewable energy, and marine renewables present a unique opportunity to further that leadership. The waters surrounding our islands hold enormous potential. Living on wet, windy islands, would it not be great if we could put some of that weather to good use? According to the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, tidal stream energy could provide up to 11.5 GW of capacity —following what my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland said, I think that figure is probably more now—which is equivalent to approximately 15% or more of the UK’s current electricity demand. Wave energy, though less mature technologically, offers additional capacity for long-term energy generation. These technologies, which include tidal stream turbines and oscillating wave surge converters, are capable of harnessing predictable and consistent energy, which is a crucial advantage over more intermittent renewable sources, like solar and wind. Investing in marine renewables is not just an environmental imperative. It is a huge economic opportunity for the UK. The sector, as we have heard, could create tens of thousands of jobs and attract billions in private investment. Projects such as those we have heard about in Orkney and Shetland demonstrate the potential for large-scale deployment, with capacity to generate a substantial element of our electricity once fully operational. The integration of marine renewables into our energy mix will not only diversify supply, but enhance our grid stability through predictable energy output. The economic benefits extend way beyond energy production. The sector could contribute billions to the UK economy annually, with supply chain opportunities for our coastal communities and the manufacturing sector alike. As we pursue this promising future, we must not lose sight of the vital role that our fishing industry plays. Brixham, one of the UK’s most productive fishing ports, landed a record-breaking £43.6 million-worth of seafood last year. That is not just an economic statistic—it represents the hard work of the fishing community and their contribution to our food security. As we navigate the transition to renewable energy, it is essential that the voices of our fishermen are heard and their expertise is valued. Marine renewable energy projects must be carefully planned to avoid disrupting fishing grounds and marine ecosystems. That requires advanced spatial planning tools, such as geographic information systems, to identify suitable sites for development that minimise conflict with established fishing zones and sensitive habitats. Consultation with the fishing community must be a fundamental part of the development process, not an afterthought. Fishermen know the waters better than anyone and can provide invaluable insights into where installations can co-exist happily with fishing activities. With good collaboration, we can ensure that marine renewables are located in areas that minimise conflict and maximise benefit. This approach is not just a matter of fairness. It is also a matter of practicality. Energy security and food security are two sides of the same coin. As we strive to achieve net zero and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, we must also ensure that we are protecting our ability to feed the nation. The sea can provide both energy and food, but only if we manage it wisely and sustainably. It is worth noting that the development of marine renewables can also enhance marine biodiversity if designed thoughtfully, creating artificial reefs and habitats that benefit marine life. I must, though, express some concern about the lack of clear Governmental targets for marine renewables. Neither the previous Government nor the current Government have set—yet—any specific targets for the installation of wave or tidal energy. Although the Government have committed to achieving at least 95% low carbon generation by 2030, the December 2024 clean power action plan fails to set explicit goals for marine renewables. Instead, it relegates them to a potential long-term role in decarbonisation objectives. I believe that lack of ambition is a missed opportunity to capitalise on the UK’s vast marine resources and risks leaving us behind in the global race for renewable energy innovation. As an island nation, where the one thing we can rely on is the tide coming in and going out day after day, we should be doing more to capitalise on it. That seems more logical than shipping in solar energy from Morocco—although if we could ship in sunshine from Morocco, I would be up for that. I urge the Government to rectify the oversight by setting binding targets for the deployment of wave and tidal energy. Doing so would provide clarity and confidence for investors and developers, fostering rapid growth in this critical sector. Moreover, it would align marine renewables with the broader decarbonisation agenda, ensuring that they contribute meaningfully to our energy transition. I also call on the Government to provide long-term funding for research and development, such as the UK’s £20 million ringfenced budget for tidal stream innovation, and streamline the regulatory process to accelerate deployment. The Government must create a supportive framework for private investment, through mechanisms such as contracts for difference, to ensure market confidence, with a ringfenced budget for tidal and wave. The Government must also commit to robust engagement with the fishing industry to ensure that livelihoods are not sacrificed in the name of progress. There is room for everyone in this endeavour, but only if we take the time to plan and act responsibly. Marine renewable energy offers a bright and sustainable future for our coastal communities and the nation as a whole, so let us seize this brilliant opportunity but do so with care, collaboration and respect for all those who depend on the sea.

• 15 Jan 2025 · Foot and Mouth Disease · Hansard source

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  I am sure that nobody in Devon will forget the horror of 2001, when half the farms in the county were affected by foot and mouth. Does the situation in Germany provide an impetus for the Minister to move forward with securing a veterinary deal with the European Union?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Local Government Reorganisation · Hansard source

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  I welcome the theory of simplifying local government, but I am concerned about the pace at which the Government are trying to move. Devon has a very complicated landscape, with Labour-run cities, a Conservative-run county and many Liberal Democrat districts. Conflicting proposals have already been submitted to the Government by the districts and the county, so can the Minister explain how the Government will adjudicate between those conflicting proposals and decide which one will come out on top?

• 13 Jan 2025 · Children’s Social Media Accounts · Hansard source

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  No, I do not believe that goes far enough. There should be a legal right to access that data without having to go through any complaints process, particularly at a time when one is struggling with the worst bereavement imaginable. The petition seeks to address that gap in law and ensure that, in the tragic event of a child’s death, parents have the right to access their child’s account to gain closure, to preserve memories and to ensure that harmful content is removed. I support the addition of Jools’ law into the Online Safety Act, and I urge the Government to do whatever they can to apply it retrospectively for those who have campaigned on this issue. What Ellen’s family have been through is the absolute worst imaginable, but tens of thousands of families up and down the country are struggling with the impact of social media on their children and teenagers. Those children are addicted to their screens because of the wicked algorithms that lure them in; cowed by bullies who can intimidate them in their own bedrooms late at night; struggling with their body image because they do not look like the influencers they watch; depressed because their lives do not resemble the doctored, airbrushed Instagram image of perfection; and brainwashed by influencers who spew toxic messages through their pages. The damaging impact of social media on our children is vast. Medical professionals from all disciplines tell us regularly of the harms children are experiencing from hour after hour spent glued to a screen. Their physical health is damaged, their mental health even more so, and even their ability to communicate and socialise with other humans is changing.

• 13 Jan 2025 · Children’s Social Media Accounts · Hansard source

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  I could not agree more. What is becoming obvious is the impact of children being on their phones late at night, which affects their sleep—even that has a knock-on effect on how well they can operate. Parents across my South Devon constituency are desperate to protect their children, but they are overwhelmed by the digital world and the power it has over young people. They need legislation to empower and support them. The NSPCC reports that over 60% of young people have encountered online bullying. That is a staggering number, highlighting the need for more robust protections from us for children in the digital space. It is clear that we need more robust protection, and it is incumbent on us as lawmakers to protect children as we do from other harms such as tobacco and alcohol. It may be right that parents should not have access to their teenager’s social media because of privacy reasons and to protect children’s ability to seek support online, but that makes it even more important and urgent that social media companies should be required and obliged to take responsibility for watertight age verification, and that we should look seriously at raising the age of access to some social media platforms to 16. I urge the Government to work with social media companies and other stakeholders to create a clear and respectful framework that allows parents access to their child’s social media accounts after a death with no questions asked. This is not about data protection; this is about ensuring that families can concentrate on grieving and healing rather than going into battle against the world’s tech giants. It is abominable that any bereaved parent should have to do what Ellen and other campaigners are doing. I urge the Minister to legislate so that that does not happen again. I commend the Petitions Committee for bringing this debate to the House and the hon. Member for Sunderland Central for introducing it.

• 13 Jan 2025 · Children’s Social Media Accounts · Hansard source

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  I am very grateful to be able to speak in this debate, which was prompted by Ellen Roome’s petition, although I am extremely sorry that any of us needs to be here at all. I pay tribute to Ellen and all the other families in the Bereaved Families for Online Safety network for their tireless campaigning. A week before Christmas, I sat in a Committee Room with Ellen and senior representatives from all the major tech firms, including Meta, TikTok, YouTube and Snap. One conversation that morning will stay with me for a very long time—a conversation that I can describe only as harrowing, shocking and deeply depressing. Sitting alongside two other heartbroken parents who have also lost their children because of online harms, Ellen confronted the representatives of TikTok and Instagram, pleading with them to release information that could give her some peace of mind following the death of her beloved son, Jools. There can be nothing worse for a parent than losing a child, but to lose a child and not understand how or why must compound that agony. Ellen does not know why Jools died. Unlike many other children and young people, he was not being bullied online and did not seem to have any mental health issues. All Ellen wants is to find out what her son was looking at online before he died; it might shed some light on this tragedy that has clearly caused immeasurable grief. It was infuriating to listen to the tech firms’ pathetic excuses that morning about why they could not or would not release the data that Ellen is asking for. There was—there is—no good reason not to release that data. Jools is no longer with us, so claiming data protection seems frankly pointless. TikTok said that it would be fined for releasing the data, but my question is: by whom? Who is going to press charges against a global tech company for supporting the request of a bereaved mother? Who in their right mind would think that a court case on that point would help anyone? As we have heard from the hon. Member for Sunderland Central (Lewis Atkinson), some social companies have behaved differently in such cases. It is quite clear, however, why some will not agree to release that data: it is a pathetic attempt to avoid the potential bad publicity that will follow if it becomes clear that Jools’ short life ended after taking part in a social media challenge, which is one possibility. It is about protecting the reputation of those social media companies. It is about the accountants who fear the lawsuits. In short, I suggest it is about money. The absence of humanity, care and compassion in that room before Christmas was palpable and I applaud Ellen for having the courage to come back here today. I can see no reason why tech companies cannot immediately release the data that these devastated parents are asking for. I fully support Ellen and all the other parents in their attempts to get Jools’ law on the statute books. In the meantime, I plead with Instagram and TikTok to not wait for a legal challenge, but just release the data: find your inner human and do something decent; imagine if it were your child. Under UK law we have clear, legal processes for handling physical estates after death. It is high time that we establish clear protocols for the digital estates that are left behind, particularly the digital estates left by young people. The law must catch up with the world we are living in. Current provisions, such as Facebook’s legacy contact feature, are not sufficient, because they rely on a child making a decision while they are still alive, often without fully understanding the implications, as has been mentioned. It is also quite possible that, if children were asked whether their parents could have full access to all of their digital online life in the event of their death, they would say no. Without formal, legal access arrangements, parents are left with no way of viewing their children’s account.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Lady give way?

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  A fantastic organisation in my South Devon constituency called Child Assault Prevention, which I worked with when I worked for Devon Rape Crisis, had to close its doors two years ago because its funding was cut by the previous Government. It was doing vital work with primary school children, teaching them about the dangers of sexual assault and how to avoid it. I would welcome the Government looking at reinstating funding to such organisations that are working with young children in this sensitive area.