Manchester Terrorism Attack

Victoria Collins Excerpts

Monday 13th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that hatred against minority communities runs riot in the online space. We do not need to look that deeply at many of the groups that proliferate online to see that whatever other hatred they say they profess, underneath there is usually a cesspit of antisemitism. That is a huge problem for us. The Online Safety Act has measures that are designed to begin to address some of those problems, but I am sure that there will be more work for us to do in the future. We must first ensure that our legal framework is robust enough to tackle the threats that we see daily in our real-world space, and then review to ensure that there is action much earlier in the online space. I will talk to colleagues across Government to ensure that we do everything that we can.

[Victoria Collins (Harpenden and Berkhamsted) (LD)]

I thank the Home Secretary for her statement, and I join her in expressing solidarity with the Jewish community following the horrific attack. Does the Home Secretary agree that we must urgently address online spaces where hatred is radicalised and amplified? Will she work with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology to review Ofcom’s guidance, and the categorisation set out in the Online Safety Act, to ensure that small, high-harm platforms are properly regulated to prevent the radicalisation that leads to such devastating attacks?

[Shabana Mahmood]

The hon. Lady will understand that I will not make new policy at the Dispatch Box, but I confirm that I will be talking about those matters to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. I recognise that the online space poses a specific challenge when it comes to all forms of hatred, particularly antisemitism, which proliferates across the political spectrum—on the left, on the right and everywhere in between—and I will talk to colleagues in Government about that.