By the way, Britain has the most expensive energy costs in the developed world. We need to build houses, laboratories, data centres and transport – and we have the most expensive energy costs in the developed world. So, clearly, there is a lot of work to be done on the government’s objective of “abundant clean energy”. There is also a lot of work outstanding on all the other four of Keir Starmer’s well-chosen “missions” and all three of his “foundations”. Those were, to repeat, economic stability, secure borders, national security, kickstarting growth, future-proofing the NHS, smashing the class ceiling, and making the streets safe.
Instead, we are still talking about the Online Safety Act. The Labour party is digging its heels in, and is apparently now shaping its entire cyber-strategy around the legislation. The party has released a new advert accusing Nigel Farage, who has criticised the act, of supporting Andrew Tate. The ad shows a picture of the two men together, originally posted by Tate in 2019, and reads “Nigel Farage says Andrew Tate is an ‘important voice’ for men. Andrew Tate said women should ‘bear responsibility’ for being sexually assaulted.” The party is claiming, in effect, that Farage’s approach to online safety will leave young boys open to radicalisation.
Not long before, champions of the Act had said Farage’s opposition put him on the side of Jimmy Savile. Defending the legislation on Sky News, Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, said “Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he’d be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he’s on their side.” Kyle later doubled down on X, posting “If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators.”
The Tate line may not seem much of a change from the Savile one. But Labour appears to be pleased with it. The Sunday Times’s front page had the details of the ad before it went out. Credit was given to the in-house team at Labour HQ, and an allusion made to a new, macho-sounding “attack team”, designed to undermine Farage and headed by chief of staff Morgan McSweeney. Speaking to the Sunday Times, a senior Labour source proudly said: “We’ll be looking to continue taking the fight to Farage in this area. He’s not thought through his approach when it comes to online safety and we’ll continue to expose it.”
It is hard to know if Labour insiders really believe this about Nigel Farage – if a cack-handed analysis of Tate’s popularity really amounts to support for his public statements. It is hard to know if Labour therefore also believe the 525,000 of their citizens who have signed a “Repeal the Online Safety Act” petition are clamouring to hear more from Andrew Tate – or are “on the side of predators”. It was similarly hard to know if the party really believed Rishi Sunak did not think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison, as an ad claimed in 2023.
But the Online Safety Act seems a very strange law to make this stand around. For one thing, it was a Sunak policy, receiving Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. For another, it is unenforceable, since anyone can dodge the restrictions by downloading a VPN. (It has been reported that children’s exposure to pornography has gone up since the law was passed.) And lastly, and again, it serves none of the government’s main aims.
Perhaps sharper eyes would discern wisdom in the move. After all, Morgan McSweeney is praised for his close sense of popular opinion, and for delivering the huge majority that the government still retains. (Though, if his celebrated ruthlessness forced Corbyn’s expulsion, he may be remembered for undoing Labour, not saving it.) There is not such a libertarian streak in Britain as there is in, say, America. And, if it needs pointing out, everyone cares about preventing sexual abuse. If half a million people have declared their opposition to the Act, there may be many more quietly in favour. Labour’s resolution may turn out to be prudent.
There are also seedier explanations to be heard. It is a fairly developed rumour in Westminster, and even more so in the technology sector, that Peter Kyle wants Bridget Phillipson’s education brief. If closing off dark parts of the internet is popular with anyone, it is popular with nervous parents. Kyle has more background in education than technology, and was briefly shadow minister for schools in 2021.
However well advised, Labour is set on raising the stakes. They are telling voters that opposing the bill amounts to supporting predators. And they are taking measures to escalate awareness of the legislation, associating it directly with the Labour party. The gauntlet seems to be “if you don’t like it, don’t vote for us”. And, for better or worse, they are shouting it from the rafters.
[See also: Sally Rooney is the conscience of a generation]
Content from our partners
Related
Join the debate
Subscribe here to comment