Esther Ghey has called on MPs to vote for an age restriction on social media in the coming weeks, as she accused the government of “kicking the can down the road” with its planned consultation.
The mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey told the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast she believed children would be harmed if the government waited for the results of its assessment later this year rather than enacting a ban straight away.
She has previously detailed how she believes her daughter’s social media addiction contributed to her mental health issues, leading her to take risks with her personal safety.
Ghey said: “We’ve got the consultation that they’re planning, but I just fear that it’s going to take too long and I think that we’ve already had enough discussions and consultations and we know the evidence now.
“Brianna wasn’t alone. We know that there are each day, in England alone, 500 mental health referrals for children and we need to really think what is impacting this, why is there such an increase in mental health issues, why is there an increase in peer and peer violence in schools, why is there a difficulty retaining teachers in schools.
“We need to move now because as we’re waiting, more and more children are being harmed.”
Ghey’s words come as MPs prepare to vote on an amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill from Lord (John) Nash which would enact a ban for under-16s within 12 months of the bill passing.
Keir Starmer last week attempted to head off the prospect of a Labour rebellion by announcing a consultation which is due to report in the summer.
The prime minister has said he is open to the idea of a ban, but is understood to have reservations about how it would be implemented and whether it could drive children on to the dark web.
Those doubts are shared by other members of the cabinet, including the technology secretary Liz Kendall and the education secretary Bridget Phillipson.
They were expressed this week also by Ian Russell, the father of Molly Russell, who took her own life at 14 as a result of depression and negative social media content.
Russell told the Guardian: “We’re in danger of trying to move too fast and trying to find quick-fix solutions. If there were quick-fix solutions, honestly, we would have found them.”
The issue will come to a head when MPs meet to debate the Lords’ amendments to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill, including the Nash amendment.
More than 60 Labour MPs recently signed a letter to the prime minister calling for a ban, though that was before the government announced its consultation.
In recent days, some of those MPs have suggested they would be happy to let the consultation finish, though they remain committed to a ban at some point.
Fred Thomas, the MP who organised the letter, said last week: “I would welcome a government amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill enabling the UK to remove access to social media for under-16s through secondary legislation, based on consultation.”
