The Prime Minister has announced that he’s made Devizes MP Claire Perry his adviser “on preventing the sexualisation and commercialisation of childhood”.
The announcement was made in an article Mr Cameron wrote for the Daily Mail spelling out the government’s response to Mrs Perry’s campaign to protect children with access to computers by imposing a total block on internet porn – so that people would have to opt in to view internet porn sites. After a consultation, her plan for a block was not accepted, but the government has proposed an alternative solution.
As Mr Cameron wrote in the Daily Mail: “With our system, when people switch on their new computer, a question will pop up asking if there are children in the house. If there are, then parents will be automatically prompted to tailor their internet filters… with our new system, every parent will be prompted to protect their child online. If they don’t make choices, protection will be automatically on.”
“No other Government has taken such radical steps before. And once all this is in place, Britain will have the most robust internet child protection measures of any country in the world – bar none.”
“To get all this underway, I have appointed Claire Perry MP to be my adviser on preventing the sexualisation and commercialisation of childhood. Claire is a passionate campaigner for internet safety and mother of three. Her job will be to see this through, to get internet companies on board, to do what it takes to protect children and young people online.”
Mrs Perry responded to her appointment: “I am absolutely delighted that the Prime Minister has asked me to be his adviser on preventing the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood.”
“I am very much looking forward to helping the Government introduce more robust filters for internet content in our homes, working to improve age rating information on music videos, helping to improve education for parents and children about online safety and making sure the other excellent recommendations of the Bailey Report are implemented”.
The report by Reg Bailey, chief executive of the Mothers’ Union, was published in June 2011. It put forward a list of moves to protect children from sexual images and commercialisation. His list included rating for music videos, covering up ‘sexual images’ on front pages newspapers and magazine covers, and getting retailers to sign up to a ‘family friendly code of practice’.
Mrs Perry will continue in her government job as PPS to the Defence Secretary.
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