A call for change at Westminster

Full letter......

Dear Parliamentarians,

We are not writing as activists or advocates. We are writing as mothers and fathers whose children are no longer here.

We are writing as parents who wake up every day to a silence that should not exist, who go to bed knowing there will be no goodnight, no laughter, no future with the child we raised and loved.

The decision by MPs not to raise the age limit for harmful social media platforms to 16 was not just disappointing; it was devastating.

The Government's offer, a consultation with no binding commitment and no fixed endpoint, is not an answer to a problem that has already claimed too many young lives.

We have already lost our children. We cannot accept a process that risks losing more as discussions continue.

We have watched technology companies fight every attempt at meaningful reform. We know how they operate. We know how easily protections are delayed, diluted or quietly dropped when there is no firm legislative commitment.

We are also deeply concerned about the consultation itself. It was announced at the eleventh hour, in the days before your previous vote.

It proposes an expert panel of academics but leaves little or no space for those on the frontline, those who see the consequences every single day, such as GPs, police officers and others dealing with the reality of harm as it unfolds.

Beyond this, the Government is seeking powers that would allow future measures to be introduced with little or no opportunity for you, as elected representatives, to scrutinise or challenge them.

We cannot ignore what this means.

It means there is a real risk of half-measures. Measures that sound like action, but do not prevent harm. Measures that will not stop other families from becoming like ours, families who are left desperately sad and broken forever.

And if those measures are passed in this way, you may not have the chance to stop them.

More parents will lose their children in circumstances that could and should have been prevented.

And while others move on, we are the ones left behind, serving a life sentence without our children.

More families will sit in rooms filled with their child’s belongings, knowing they will never be used again. More birthdays will become anniversaries.

And right now, across the UK, parents are not waiting for consultations or future reviews.

They are watching their children scroll, message and engage on platforms they know are not safe.

They are trying to set boundaries without the support of the law.

They are fearful, overwhelmed and doing their best to protect their children in a system that is not designed to help them.

They are asking you. They are pleading with you to act now.

To give them something they do not currently have:

• the ability to say no, backed by law

• the ability to protect their children before harm happens, not after

  
  

You voted for change in January, and you were right to do so.

Lord Nash’s cross-party amendment provides time for implementation, involves the Chief Medical Officer, and represents a careful, considered and credible path forward. It is a commitment to act.

That commitment is what is missing from the Government’s position.

We are left with bedrooms that remain untouched, phones that will never light up again, and questions that will never be answered.

We are not here because this is our profession. We are here because this is our reality.

And we are asking you, with everything we have left, to act so that other parents do not have to live it too.

Please vote today to reject the Government’s amendments.

Please vote for Lord Nash’s cross-party amendment.

Please vote to raise the age.

Yours sincerely,

Ellen Roome MBE (Mother of Jools Sweeney)

and co-signed by the following bereaved parents:

1. Amanda Stephens (Mother of Olly Stephens)

2. Areti Nicolaou (Mother of Christoforos)

3. Beth Layton (Mother to Elsa Layton-Jones)

4. Eliza Gabb (Mother of Sky Gabb)

5. Esther Ghey (Mother of Brianna Ghey)

6. George Nicolaou (Father of Christoforos)

7. Hollie Dance (Mother of Archie Battersbee)

8. Ian Banyard (Father to Lacey Banyard)

9. Lisa Kenevan (Mother of Isaac Kenevan)

10. Lorin LaFave (Mother of Breck Bednar)

11. Mariano Janin (Father of Mia Janin)

12. Matthew Sweeney (Father of Jools Sweeney)

13. Michael Absalom (Father of Kady Absalom)

14. Michelle Barrett (Mother of Kibi Wade)

15. Michelle Gardner (Stepmother of Kibi Wade)

16. Penny Banyard (Mother to Lacey Banyard)

17. Ruth Moss (Mother to Sophie Moss)

18. Stuart Stephens (Father of Olly Stephens)

19. Tanya Absalom (Mother of Kady Absalom)

20. Terry Layton (Father to Elsa Layton-Jones)