Keir Starmer has rejected the view that a dedicated minister for men could help combat the issues raised by the drama Adolescence.
The four-part Netflix series, released earlier this month, is said to shine a light on the corrosive impact of social media and misogynist influencers on some teenage boys.
Starmer revealed he is watching the drama with his family at prime minister’s questions last week, and was asked further about what the government can do to protect young men vulnerable to malign online influences in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live.
The prime minister’s comments also came after Sir Gareth Southgate, the ex-England men’s football manager, delivered a lecture expressing his fears young men are being preyed on by “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers”.
Asked for his view on the societal challenges raised by Adolescence and Southgate’s lecture, the PM responded that he is “worried” about current trends.
He said: “I am worried about this. I’ve got a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl. I won’t use their example, because we don’t really put them in the public domain, although we are watching Adolescence with them.
“I’ve been in touch with Gareth [Southgate]. I know Gareth. I thought his lecture was really powerful. It will have resonated with a lot of parents, and I do think this is something that we have to take seriously. We can’t shrug our shoulders at it.
“And there’s a reason why the debate has suddenly sparked into life, because I think a lot of parents, loyal people who work with young people at school or elsewhere, recognise that we may have a problem with with boys and young men that we need to address.
“We can’t shrug our shoulders in relation to it. So I personally take it very seriously.”
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The prime minister was asked to name what role models exist today for young men.
He responded: “I always go to sport for this. You know, footballers, athletes — I think they are role models. But I also think if you actually ask a young person, they’re more likely to identify somebody who’s in their school, a teacher, or somebody who may be a sports coach, something like that.”
He added: “And that’s, I think, where we need to do some of the work.”
Starmer went on to reject the view that the government should appoint a dedicated minister for men to deal with these issues.
“No, I don’t think that’s the answer”, he said.
“I think it is a time for listening carefully to what Gareth Southgate was saying and respond to it. And certainly that’s what I want to do.
“I’ve been in touch with Gareth Southgate. I want to have that further discussion with him. We’ve already had a bit of a discussion about this, but I do think it’s important that we pick this challenge up and see it for what it is.”
The comments come after a report by the Higher Policy Education Institute (Hepi) into educational underachievement of boys called on the government to develop a strategy for men’s education, overseen by a new minister for men and boys.
The Guardian newspaper has also reported that a new group of Labour MPs are urging the government to speak to men directly, warning of the “toxic influencers” in the so-called online manosphere.
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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