Labour claims win as PM appears to pledge criminal sanctions for tech execs

Labour has claimed two wins today after Boris Johnson committed both to accelerating the passage through parliament of long-awaited online safety legislation before Christmas and to criminal sanctions against those responsible for allowing harmful content on the internet.

At Prime Minister’s Questions today, Johnson told MPs: “I’ve already said that we are willing to look at anything to strengthen the legislation, I’ve said that we will bring it forward to second reading before Christmas.

“And, yes, of course we will have criminal sanctions with tough sentences for those who are responsible for allowing this foul content to permeate the internet. What we hope for also is that, no matter how tough the proposals we produce, the opposition will support it.”

Labour has consistently called for the online safety bill, previously known as the online harms bill, to be strengthened and to include criminal sanctions for senior tech executives who repeatedly fail to enforce the rules.

After PMQs this afternoon, Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said: “There were two significant things I think at Prime Minister’s Question time today. We’ve got two new commitments out of the government, which is welcome.

“Firstly was the second reading of the online safety bill will be coming before Christmas. And the second was the Prime Minister’s commitment that there would be criminal sanctions for directors of platforms failing to crack down on extremism.

“That is not currently in the draft bill at the moment. So we would obviously hope that the government will be true to what the Prime Minister said in the chamber today, and come back with an amendment to that draft bill as soon as possible, in time for it to have the necessary pre-legislative scrutiny. And for then the second reading to complete before Christmas, as requested.”

Asked whether Labour would back the online safety bill even if the government does not amend it in this way, the spokesperson replied: “Well, as I say, I mean, the Prime Minister gave a commitment today in the House that he would make that change.

“So I’m sure the government will come forward, be true to their word, and come forward with an amendment in line with what the Prime Minister said.

“We think it’s very important that that accountability is there and there is that ability to have criminal sanctions against the directors of platforms that don’t tackle online hate and extremism in a way that, frankly, I think the public expects, and certainly the whole House has spoken in support of previously.”

The Labour leader’s spokesperson was also asked about women reporting that they have been spiked with needles. He said: “The reports are clearly very alarming and should be taken very seriously. It’s vital that the government listens to the women who have been affected in these cases and hears firsthand of their experience.

“We do believe that this is yet another example of the epidemic of violence against women and girls, and we would expect the government to take it seriously by convening universities, venues and the police to tackle this as a matter of urgency and come forward with a plan of action that is proportionate to the clearly shocking stories that we’ve heard.”

Amid rising Covid cases, hospitalisations and deaths, the head of the NHS Confederation has urged the government to urgently implement ‘plan B’ winter measures and warned that ministers otherwise risk derailing efforts to tackle the NHS backlog.

In response to the news, Labour has not called for ‘plan B’ to be implemented, but Starmer’s spokesperson today said: “It’s for the ministers to be clear about what levels of hospitalisations and infections would trigger plan B.

“What we’ve seen consistently is mixed messaging from the government. What the public want is the certainty of knowing what the situation is that will trigger a plan B – the government hasn’t been clear on that.”

Asked whether Labour would like to see the government specify a number of deaths, cases or hospitalisations that would make ‘plan B’ necessary, Starmer’s spokesperson confirmed that it does want those numbers to be set out.

“The key thing that we’re seeing at the moment is that fundamentally the booster programme is clearly stalling, ministers need to get a grip and also accelerate the vaccine rollout for children. Neither of these programmes are going at the speed that is required at the moment,” the aide said.

“We are certainly calling for there to be more pop-up vaccination clinics to be opened up. We also believe that there’s better use of community pharmacies that could be used to deliver the jabs and that there needs to be a much more concerted effort to ensure that everyone who is eligible is getting their booster jab.”