With social media ban, Starmer attempts an emotional rebrand

By Matthew Flinders, Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics, University of Sheffield

In politics, very often a speech about one topic is actually designed to deliver a very different and far broader message. This was certainly the case with Keir Starmer’s statement on banning social media for under-16s.

This was not just an announcement about the government’s proposals. It was an announcement of Starmer’s intention to fight for his position. And it was an attempt to set the agenda at the beginning of a week in which the good folk of Makerfield may well send the King of the North, Andy…

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