I’ve been getting a few emails recently from constituents expressing opposition to the Online Safety Act.
This is a new piece of legislation, which I support, designed to protect children in particular from harmful online content, and the requirement to prove your age to get access to certain sites has just come into effect
Those against the legislation make a range of arguments. They don’t like having to provide personal information to prove their age, although these days all of us hand over personal information and bank details for a wide variety purposes from shopping online to joining organisations.
They’re afraid it’s going to inhibit lively political discussion and exchange of views, which is not the intent of the Act. Free speech and free expression are the lifeblood of our democracy
More worryingly, some argue that the state should have no role in protecting children and that it should be entirely a matter for parents. And then there are those who say they would scrap the Act altogether. I fundamentally disagree, not least because it would leave our children unprotected. I think we have an obligation to make sure that we look after our children, especially when we know about online grooming, access to pornography and sites which encourage self-harm or suicide.
All technologies can be used for good and ill, and that is certainly true of the Internet. After all, the same goes for the printing press which on the one hand produced the works of Shakespeare but on the other enabled Adolf Hitler to publish Mein Kampf. What really matters is how we as human beings behave and how we treat others.
On that subject I have been shocked to see some of the abuse directed at people in our country because of the colour of their skin. I thought we had left those days behind us (and by the way I do think that we need to do all we can to stop the small boat crossings across the Channel). And sadly there is also a lot of abuse and threats directed at all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons on the Internet and on social media.
Recent court cases have made it clear that threatening people or inciting hatred online can have serious consequences. And rightly so. We are better than that as a country.
The connection between our Armed Forces and wider society is a really important part of the defence of the UK. The Armed Forces recruit from, and operate with the consent of, the society they serve and protect, and defence is at the heart of many local communities, often formed around military and industrial bases. It also plays a significant role in advancing social mobility by offering a range of careers and educational opportunities to individuals from all backgrounds.
There are currently over 138,000 young people and more than 27,000 adult volunteers in cadet units across the country, and 5,950 Community Cadets (Air Cadets, Sea Cadets, Army Cadets) in Yorkshire and the Humber alone. And the evidence is that being in the cadets is good for school attendance and that helps attainment.
A new scheme is being launched to boost the number of cadets by 30% by 2030 which I am backing. £70 million of new funding will help the ‘30 by 30’ campaign, which was launched recently. It would see over 50,000 more cadets across the UK, and offer valuable STEM skills for young people.
And talking of qualifications, many congratulations to all the students at schools in South Leeds who received their A-level and GCSE results over the last few weeks. We all know how much hard work goes into these exams from the students and their teachers, and the huge amount of energy that parents spend worrying about how their children have done. It’s a big moment not only because of the results themselves but because students are then moving on to the next phase in their lives, whether it’s leaving school to go to work, getting an apprenticeship, going on to higher education or moving into the sixth form or an FE college.
One good thing about this year is that I can’t remember anyone complaining about improvements in exam results. For many years, there were some people who would come out like clockwork and say that because more students had got higher grades the quality of learning and achievement must have fallen. It was then, and is now, complete nonsense, and it was so insulting to those who had worked their socks off.
And one other point, as it’s now back to school time. Overall, about 18% of pupils were persistently absent in the 2024-25 school year. That was down from the Covid peak but still much higher than the pre-Covid levels. We also know that pupils who missed school during the first week back last September were more likely to miss large parts during the rest of the year. The single most important thing we can do as parents and grandparents – as well as protect, love and encourage our children and grandchildren – is to make sure that they go to school.
It’s hard work being a teacher, but it is so rewarding. There will have been hundreds of teachers across our city joining in the celebration of their students as they opened their results. And it’s an opportunity for us, as we should always do, to express our heartfelt thanks to our teachers and other school staff for helping to give the next generation the skills, the knowledge and the enthusiasm they will need to go out and make their way in the world.
Whatever you are going on to do now, the very best of luck.
Hilary Benn is our Member of Parliament. He represents the Leeds South constituency.
Email: hilary.benn.mp@parliament.uk | Website: www.hilarybennmp.com
Constituency office:
Unity Business Centre, 26 Roundhay Road, Leeds, LS7 1AB
Tel: 0113 244 1097
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