Lisa Nandy MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As a rule, I think this Government have taken that approach; we want to have a much closer relationship with our closest friends and neighbours across Europe and to repair some of the needless damage that was done to that relationship under previous Governments. When it comes to tech and what happens online, it is absolutely essential that we work with other like-minded countries in order to move in step, so I can certainly reassure him on that point.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  We have been discussing that as a Department, and it is something that officials are currently exploring. I am very familiar with what the hon. Gentleman says: many children will be using older devices. We think there may be some solutions to this, but I am very keen to work with colleagues from across the House to address some of these issues. Although we will not hesitate to take the action that we need to take or to take action where it is needed, as I said to the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage), we are trying to come at this issue from lots of different angles to ensure we close loopholes one by one, and close as many as we can at the same time. Part of that is about the action that we are taking not just on the taking of nude images—as my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips) said, that is the most central part—but on the sharing of nude images. Even if a child has an older device, the protections that we are bringing in around the sharing of nude images will take effect immediately.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I should be happy to do so.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s constituents, and thank him for being such an outstanding advocate for them. He will have heard what I said about ongoing discussions with tech companies. We ought to be moving quickly on this, and it ought not to require primary legislation, but given the lack of progress, I think it only right for the Government to step up. We do, however, want to see faster progress, and I think that many of the tech companies will have noted the strength of feeling throughout the House about their own responsibilities in this regard.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady raises an important point about some of the apps that exist. I commend my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) for taking such quick and decisive action in this place on Grok. The hon. Lady is right to say that other forms of technology out there are a problem. The hon. Lady is also right to point to the fact that we need to be much better at supporting schools, parents and wider families to help protect children. When we developed the national youth strategy last year with young people across the country, one of the biggest concerns that both they and their parents had was that far too many young people growing up in this country do not have an adult they trust who can help them to navigate the online space. Many of us—I say us, Madam Deputy Speaker, because I am on a very steep learning curve as the mum of an 11-year-old—would welcome extra help and support. That is something we have been seeking to address through the national youth strategy, but I intend to put rocket boosters under it now.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  Overnight, I was thinking about how to address the House on this issue. During the financial crash, there was a live debate about the moral and social responsibilities that companies have to citizens, to one another and to all of us. I think we have slightly lost that part of our public debate. Working with some of these companies, I have been struck by how seriously they take those obligations. I want us to bring back that sense that we are all in this together—that we all have a responsibility to keep children safe—and given that these are some of the most innovative, fast-moving and successful companies in the world, it cannot be beyond our collective wit to do this more quickly. Frankly, I do not think we should be in a position where a Secretary of State is standing at the Dispatch Box and announcing that we have to legislate in order to uphold our responsibilities to our own children; but, like I said, if we have to, of course we will.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  This is a live issue and it is very much at the front of my mind. Over the last few months, I have been working with campaigners and Members of this House and the other place to ensure we get this right. With some of the protections previously asked for, particularly in relation to offences involving creating AI companions and chatbots that fulfil particular functions, I think recent developments have shown that that approach may have its limitations. She will be aware of the recent case in which an AI system was able to escape its own sandbox and the parameters set for it, and caused damage. We are looking at strengthening our approach in this area, because at the moment there is a great big gap where there is no liability for the output from those AI systems. We urgently need to resolve that major gap in our child safety protection system. It is not straightforward to solve, but we are determined to get on the front foot on this. As I have said to other Members of the House—I say it particularly to the hon. Lady, given our history—I am very happy to talk about it with her further.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  At the risk of spending the entire duration of this statement paying tribute to absolutely everybody, I thank the hon. Lady and her Committee for the work they have done on this issue, and that she has done in particular. I agree with her that it is a damning indictment if a country does not step up to keep its children safe, and I hope she is reassured by what she has heard today. The hon. Lady has asked a specific question about how this policy will be enforced, and I have heard loud and clear the concerns from across this House about the enforcement of the Online Safety Act. Before she left office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) appointed a new chair of Ofcom, and specifically tasked Ofcom with stepping up its enforcement work; I have picked up the baton on that work, and I continue it. When it comes to this specific issue, we are looking in particular at the making and selling of devices here in the UK that do not have technology enabled to prevent children from taking and sharing nude images. We are also looking at what we can do in relation to particular apps, especially where highly verified age assurance does not apply, to make sure that we close every loophole. Given that we are the first Government in the world to do this, the way I would describe it to the House is that we are taking a major problem—a crisis—and trying to come at it from every single angle in order to keep children as safe as possible. I look forward to working with the hon. Lady to develop the detail.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the issue of enforcement. As has already been mentioned, any legislation that we introduce is only as good as our ability to enforce it, so we take that extremely seriously.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a typically well informed and well thought-out point. I thank her not just for her support, but for all the work she has done to ensure that we have got here. I know that she is appreciated not just by me, but by many of the incredible, brave families who I have had the privilege to get to know over the last few weeks and who have wanted to see action in this space for a very long time. I pay tribute to those families as well as to her. She has made an important point about working with Governments and other partners across the world to keep children safe. That is the promise of the UN convention on the rights of the child. A child harmed anywhere means that children can be harmed everywhere, and we have to take that really seriously. My hon. Friend should be encouraged—and I suspect that she is—by the fact that many Governments are now acting more decisively. They are stepping up and recognising that the development and regulation of new forms of technology cannot be left to the private sector alone. There is a clear role for active, empowering Governments working in this space, and my right hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray) and I have not hesitated to reach out to like-minded Governments across the world to see what more we can do together.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I saw my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips) nodding vigorously at that point. My hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) is absolutely right, and I am working closely with the Home Secretary to ensure that we come at the issue from every angle and hold to account all who are responsible.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  We are coming at that from a number of angles. As well as the measures I have been outlining to colleagues today, we are looking at how we can develop gov.uk. We are pioneers when it comes to gov.uk, but we believe we could do even more to make it more relevant and to provide better avenues to trusted sources of news. My hon. Friend will also know that, along with the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray), we produced the first ever local news strategy to support the incredible local news outlets that did such amazing work during the riots a few summers ago to tackle misinformation and disinformation and to do myth-busting on the ground. Colleagues will also know that we are about to embark on the BBC charter review, which is our opportunity to take what is perhaps our best weapon against misinformation and disinformation, and make sure we put it on a firm and secure footing for the foreseeable future.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I support my hon. Friend in saying that it is the responsibility of all of us to keep children safe, and we would like to see the tech companies do more—and more quickly. Today’s statement also shows that the Government can do things to improve people’s lives. We are not powerless; we were elected to do that, and we intend to fulfil that promise.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I have had an initial discussion about this with some of the tech companies. As the hon. Lady will know, as well as the horrific incidents that she mentioned, there has been a campaign by the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers relating to the way in which shop workers have been targeted. The Government are concerned about this, as am I personally, and I look forward to working with the hon. Lady to see what more we can do.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I certainly commit to looking at that issue. I am concerned by what the hon. Lady said. I will take that away and make sure that we take the appropriate action to protect children from those sorts of images.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I have already discussed issues around VPNs with officials; device-level controls are one part of the answer but not the whole answer, so my hon. Friend is right to raise the issue. I will take up the issue of smart glasses as well.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  Once again, I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend and thank her so much for all her support both when we worked together in government and since; she really is a class act. I am not in a position to give a firm timetable for the measures that my right hon. Friend mentioned, but I will commit to coming back to her with one, because I understand that Members across the House will want to know that there will be no delay in taking action on those things. We are also looking at a more comprehensive system, very much in the spirit of the reforms that she set out earlier this year, and we intend to move quickly on that without delay. I do not think we will be in a position to do the whole package by the end of the year, but I would be very disappointed if we had not made enormous progress by then, including meeting the commitments that she set out. I would be particularly disappointed if, by this time next year, we did not have a much more robust and comprehensive package of measures in place.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the next steps that this Government will be taking to protect children online. This Government’s ambition is to be the world leader in shaping an online environment that works for us. We intend to be an active Government that will help to create an online environment that is not just safe, but enabling and empowering. That starts with fixing the fundamentals, and this House can expect to see us acting more quickly and more decisively from now on to keep us safe online. In December last year, the Government published their action plan to tackle violence against women and girls. I would like to put on record my gratitude to my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) and my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips), who are here today, for their clear ambition and determination that the UK would become the first country in the world where it would be impossible for children to take, share or view nude images online. In June, the Government challenged industry on a three-month timeline to work with us and set out road maps for how they would strengthen device-level protections for children with a view to preventing children from taking, sharing or viewing nude images on phones and tablets. Today I can update the House on the progress that has been made and the next steps that this Government will take to protect children. Since June, officials from my Department and the Home Office have overseen an unprecedented work programme with Apple and Google, working with senior leaders and engineers to explore new ways of preventing child sexual abuse and strengthening protections for children online. I can report that, following this engagement, Apple and Google have provided the Government with significant commitments. Both companies have developed meaningful changes at operating level to make it harder for children to share nude imagery. We have seen progress in the blocking, not blurring, of nude imagery on underage devices, and this builds on significant milestones already in implementation, including Apple’s roll-out earlier this year of operating system-level age assurance and tighter safety features preventing a child from receiving or sharing nude imagery on iMessage or FaceTime. These proposals are a step in the right direction. However, the truth is that they do not meet the scale of this crisis. Children are facing unacceptable levels of sexual harm online. They are being groomed, coerced and manipulated into creating and sharing intimate images across online services. The Internet Watch Foundation believes that 91% of these images are self-generated by children. They are used for blackmail and sexual extortion. [ Official Report , 9 September 2026; Vol. 790, c. 8WC.] (Correction) Each year, around 9,000 child sexual abuse offences involve an online element, with under-18s the subject of almost a quarter of online blackmail. I challenge anyone to listen to those statistics and come to the conclusion that the internet is a safe place for kids or that the Government should not get involved. This is not the first time in history that new forms of technology have up-ended society, but what is unique to this moment is that the technology has been developed almost exclusively in the private sphere. I am clear that there is a central role for Government in shaping that technology for good, not just to protect from harm—although that is a basic obligation of any Government—but to enable and empower. When it comes to the development of technology that affects our lives, we are not neutral. In no other walk of life would we tolerate this crisis harming our children, and we will not tolerate it online. For too long, technology companies have failed to protect children from some of the worst harms. To be frank, I am not prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt that progress will continue at the pace we need it to, while harm is being done now. For that reason, I make the following announcements to the House. First, the Government today commit to introducing primary legislation to require major tech platforms to build in device-level protections for children. We will introduce the legislation to Parliament as soon as we can, recognising the urgency of the issue while ensuring that we work with colleagues across the House to get it right. We want to see movement on this quickly. If platforms in scope of the draft legislation develop and implement technical solutions while our work is ongoing, we will of course reassess whether legislation is necessary. We know that this is a sector that can, when required, innovate at an extraordinary pace when the chips are down. Alongside the measures on devices, the Government will, as soon as possible, require that apps used by children prevent children from accessing or sharing nudity. We will explore what legislation is needed to implement that commitment, with a view to moving as quickly as possible. This will ensure that the whole ecosystem changes, tackling the means by which children are most often abused or groomed online. Put simply, we will give tech companies the chance to lead; we will not give them the chance to lag. These measures, taken together, will make Britain the first country in the world to go this far, and a world leader in online safety. The message we are sending to tech companies is clear: planning must now become implementation, and progress must translate into protections that make a real difference to children’s lives. I give my commitment to all Members of this House, and to anybody listening out there in the country who has been desperately worried about what is happening to our children online, that when it comes to children’s safety, we are not, and never will be, bystanders. I commend this statement to the House.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for that point. I think the views of his constituents in Harlow are probably mirrored in every constituency across the country. I want to be really clear about our message today to parents who have been struggling with this matter for so long: you are not on your own. We believe that we are as responsible for keeping their children safe as they are, and we are stepping up to take the necessary action, whether that is through support, advice and training for parents and children, or through the reforms and measures that I have outlined today—we are the first country in the world to do so, and I strongly suspect that we will not be the last.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right. Let me say to him, as someone who shares his concern about the increase in exposure to violent content to very young children, that we are also looking at the issue of chatbots and strengthening the law to ensure that we protect children better from all these different forms of exposure.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I support what my hon. Friend says. We need to stop thinking about the online world as somehow distinct from the offline world. As someone who worked with children and young people for many years before I came into Parliament, I know that there are systems and protections in place for people to work with children and young people in the real world. It would be unthinkable not to have that. I find it astonishing that we do not have the same level of expectation for the online world. I very much support what he says.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  Yes, of course; it would be a privilege to meet them. I have had the honour of getting to know some of these families—both bereaved families and families of survivors whose children have been harmed because of the lack of action in this space—and I gave them a commitment that I will do everything in my power to stop another family having to experience what they have gone through. I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend and his constituents. Bill Presented Illegal Trading (Temporary Closure of Premises) Bill Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57) Gideon Amos presented a Bill to make provision about the temporary closure of premises connected to illegal trading; to make further provision relating to such closures; and for connected purposes. Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 27 November , and to be printed (Bill 141).

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I think we have been living through a revolution in the way we interact with one another and with Government, compared with when I was growing up. I am going to sound incredibly old now, but I think I was 17 before I got my first email address, and Google was not a thing at that point—it was Ask Jeeves, if anyone remembers that. We have been living through this revolution for quite some time, and it is about time that Governments caught up. We have to ensure that we are on the front foot, helping to shape the society we want to have, not just allowing that to be relegated to the private sphere. My hon. Friend talks about the global consensus, and I think there is a global consensus forming on this. We are seeing more and more that states are prepared to step up and be on the front foot and taking action. We are working closely with our friends and allies around the world, trying to move in step so that this can be as effective as possible.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for the way that she has engaged with these proposals. I will try my best to briefly answer as many of her questions as possible. First, on the detail, I have instructed my officials today to begin working up legislation. I appreciate that it is frustrating when a Minister comes to the Dispatch Box and says, “We intend to do this imminently”—the hon. Lady’s party has been in government; they understand the difficulties—but I want to reassure her and the whole House that we intend to do this without delay. The only reason there is not a firm timetable at the moment is because we are the first country in the world to do it. There are a number of questions, some of which she posed, which we need to iron out to ensure that we get this right. On what would constitute sufficient progress that would rid us of the need to introduce legislation, I would much rather the technology companies move at pace to meet their own social and moral obligations, but in the absence of that, the Government will step up and act. Frankly, if we were able to reach a situation very quickly, which we should be able to do with the right will, where children were not able to take or share nude images, then the problem would be solved. But I have to say, based on what I have seen in progress over the last three months, it is almost certain that we will be legislating in this area. The hon. Lady asked about which devices. It is phones and tablets at a minimum, but I accept the point she makes, and we are exploring whether it is possible to extend this to other forms of technology. The hon. Lady asked what I meant when I talked about shaping technology for good. I am a big supporter of the action we are taking on social media for children. I say this as the mum of an 11-year-old and someone who is going through it at the moment and trying to help navigate that; I know all parents across the House will recognise the challenges. I would love us to get to a situation as a country where all people, including children, can be online and find good, trusted information and things that help them to be creative, to feel empowered and to enable them to live the richer, larger lives that they want to live. I think the Government have a right and proper role in helping that to happen. One of the ways in which we are already doing that, building on the great work of my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall), is in trying to use gov.uk as a pioneering service that really does help people to live better lives. The hon. Lady says that this Government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to doing this. Her party was in government for a very long time, and the amount of time it took them to try to introduce any legislation in this area at all was quite shameful. That is not to downplay the role that some members of the Conservative party played in ensuring that we got there, but if it was not for my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West, I do not think I would be standing here today in a position to make this announcement. We should give credit where credit is due: this is a Government who are leading the world in keeping children safe. The last thing the hon. Lady asked me about, which I know many colleagues are concerned about, is the social media ban that we announced earlier this year. I can reassure the House that we do intend to stick to both the spirit and the letter of what my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West set out earlier this year. We are on track to meet the timetable that she set out, to lay the first regulations by the end of this year and for the ban to come into force in the spring of 2027. We also intend to go somewhat further than our initial proposition statement, and I would welcome the opportunity to talk with the hon. Lady in more detail about that.

• 8 Sept 2026 · Online Safety · Hansard source

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  I strongly support that; frankly, there is no excuse. My hon. Friend mentions the anxiety that many families feel. I have worked with the outstanding organisation that is the NSPCC, and with Childline, for many years, as has the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson)—we used to work together many years ago. This particular form of abuse is happening in families’ homes. It is often happening in children’s bedrooms while their parents are in the house, but it is not known to them. There is something particularly frightening about that for many parents. Speaking for myself, I find it particularly disturbing. Having worked with bereaved families for just a few weeks, I have been struck by how hard they have found it to come to terms with that element of this issue. They did not know that it was happening, even though at times it was happening under their own roofs. Once again, I pay tribute to all the families who have campaigned so long and hard to make this happen. I give them my commitment that we will work with them and not hesitate to continue to innovate and to take the steps that we need as the technology develops.