Were you at St Mary’s Church yesterday when Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Putney to announce new online safety measures? Or do you recognise any of the local residents in our photographs who spoke with him at the historic venue’s community hub?
Starmer chose the Putney High Street church to announce immediate action on AI chatbot regulation and confirm the government will ban social media for under-16s “within months,” speaking directly to Putney parents and young people about online safety concerns.
The choice of St Mary’s connected the church’s historic role in British democracy to modern debates about technology regulation. Nearly four centuries after Oliver Cromwell’s Army Council met in the church to discuss how England should be governed, another leader used the same venue to announce new rules for the digital age.
The Prime Minister met local residents at the church’s community hub. If you were there, or if you recognise friends or neighbours in our photos, we’d love to hear from you.
What was it like meeting the PM? Did you get to ask a question? Share your experience in the comments below or email us: news@putney.news.
The announcement
The Prime Minister confirmed the government is extending the Online Safety Act to cover AI chatbots, requiring them to protect users from illegal content. The changes will appear in an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill.
On the under-16 social media ban, Starmer said the government has taken powers to act “within months, not years.” A consultation launches next month, with ministers promising to act quickly on its findings.
“As a dad of two teenagers, I know the challenges and the worries that parents face making sure their kids are safe online,” Starmer said. “Technology is moving really fast, and the law has got to keep up.”
The government is also considering restrictions on infinite scrolling, VPN use that bypasses safety protections, and raising the digital consent age. Following child deaths linked to online content, new rules would preserve vital data before it can be deleted, except where online activity is not relevant to the death.
One 17-year-old challenged the Prime Minister on whether extending voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds could be incompatible with restricting their access to social media, where most young people get their news. Starmer acknowledged the concern about news access, saying the government must ensure it doesn’t cut off “sensible, good access” to information for young voters, but did not explain how this would work in practice. He defended the voting age extension: “At 16 and 17, you are old enough, mature enough to make a decision about a government that you want to be.”
Historic setting
St Mary’s Church has hosted crucial discussions about governance since 1647, when Cromwell’s Army Council gathered in the chancel for the Putney Debates, arguing fundamental questions about who should vote and what rights citizens should have.
The debates produced one of history’s most powerful statements on democratic equality, when Thomas Rainsborough declared that “the poorest he that is in England hath a life to live, as the greatest he.”
The church sits on Putney High Street next to the River Thames at the southern end of Putney Bridge. The community hub hosts multiple events throughout the year.
Were you there? Share your experience in the comments below.
Did Starmer enjoy the traffic chaos a mere 100 metres from him whilst Labour councils, MP’s and a Mayor of London fired on a solution for Hammersmith Bridge?
Unbelievable, Khan there too. Wish I’d had known as would have gone to let them know how useless they are.
Were people invited to attend? I did not see anything about it but then it does not appear that an invitation would have been issued to anyone over a certain age anyway. How odd that the only time the PM (alongside the rest of his Labour cohort) chooses to talk to the common people of Putney, the subject matter is the online safety bill. Arguably exposure to online risk is something parents should have been dealing with anyway. I hardly think that anyone struggling with energy bills and the cost of food is going to be beating their chests over the risks to children provided with phones which only the better off can afford to buy and maintain for their children..