EMQs: Will new laws protect children online?
6/15/202639 min
How effective will new UK laws be at protecting children online? Ed Balls and George Osborne hear a question from Natalie Fleet, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls. They discuss the technology that can help, the importance of legislation keeping pace with risks, and the legal decision that made social media platforms more likely to host misleading content.
Plus, why is the government now prioritising inflation over low unemployment? Is it possible to tackle them both at the same time? And what could a future Prime Minister do towards this? Ed and George assess the history and economics behind it.
They also discuss the importance of historical education as a politician and an economist. Ed talks about the importance of learning from mistakes of the past, and George recalls how two paintings in No 11 Downing Street paid tribute to an influential 1925 dinner between then-Chancellor Winston Churchill and economist John Maynard Keynes.
And finally, how do Ed and George feel about comedians rarely impersonating them? The pair show off their own impressions of William Hague, Gordon Brown, and Peter Mandelson.
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Credits:
Research: Sam Burton
Production: Caillin McDaid & Nasreen Arain
Video Editor: Oliver Geraghty
Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford & Henrietta Harrison
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGeorge Osborne· Host0:00
The Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Ed Balls· Host0:01
[cheering] Getting a lesson from the shadow chancellor on how to balance the books is like getting a lesson from Dracula on how to look after a blood bank. [laughing] Ed Balls.
George Osborne· Host0:09
A steady as she goes budget.
Ed Balls· Host0:12
What kind of ship does he think he's on? The Titanic? The Marie Celeste? [laughing] Welcome to EMQ's from Political Currency.
George Osborne· Host0:20
With Ed Balls and George Osborne.
Ed Balls· Host0:21
[upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to EMQ's Ex-Ministers Questions. We're recording this, um, before the weekend, so if you have, uh, our Gold or Kitchen Cabinet subscriber, you will still be anticipating Scotland's World Cup campaign starting on Sunday morning. And, um, if you're getting it on Monday, you'll know the result. We don't. You know, I always think I want Scotland to do well in the World Cup.
George Osborne· Host0:51
Yeah. Pro- you've actually chaired a football club, but I think the general view, isn't it, is that England fans shouldn't support Scotland. Or a- actually, sorry, it's the other way around, isn't it?
Ed Balls· Host0:59
Really?
George Osborne· Host0:59
England fans are sort of, England's sort of big and, you know, doesn't ... it gets, is quite relaxed about things, and it doesn't mind if Scotland does well. It's the Scottish fans who [laughs] hate, hate England doing well.
Ed Balls· Host1:09
Do you remember 1978 when England weren't in the World Cup?
George Osborne· Host1:13
Mm-hmm.
Ed Balls· Host1:13
We're on the march, we're Ally's Army. We're going to the Argentine, and we'll really shake them up when we win the World Cup. Uh, Scotland are the greatest football team.
George Osborne· Host1:23
No.
Ed Balls· Host1:23
I loved supporting Scotland in that tournament. I mean, they, they didn't win.
George Osborne· Host1:26
No.
Ed Balls· Host1:26
But I loved it.
George Osborne· Host1:27
No, I was only seven years old, so I'm not sure I remember it. Anyway, we