Speeches by Swallow.

“The hon. Member’s point is well taken. I will talk about the interim report from the Milburn review later, but it is really clear that the skills system that we inherited from the previous Government has not set up our young people for the world of work. Essential skills are about more than just preparing young people …”

“I declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for schools, learning and assessment. I thank the Minister for his virtual visit to a school in Hebron yesterday. What did he hear directly from pupils at that school about their hopes for peace, and what more can we do to ensure that everyone in Pales…”

“Families in Bracknell Forest often tell me that the schools holidays can be bittersweet; the opportunity to make treasured memories and spend time with their children must be balanced against having to juggle childcare and work, as well as the cost of living pressures that come from keeping their children entertained. …”

“The hon. Member said that the victory secured by the SNP at the elections earlier this month was bigger than the victory secured by this Government in 2024. Could he clarify whether the SNP won more or less seats at that election than it previously held? Has the SNP’s majority increased or decreased?”

“The hon. Lady makes a powerful case, but her party was the future once, so why were all the challenges that she identifies not fixed when the Conservatives were in government? They were the ones who set up and built this welfare system.”

“The hon. Member knows how fond I am of her, but how can she possibly in one voice condemn building new homes and in the next sentence suggest that we do not have enough homes for young people to live in? She simply cannot have her cake and eat it.”

“I am grateful to the Minister for giving way; I tried to intervene on the shadow Minister but was not successful. On that cross-party consensus, was she as surprised as I was to see no commitment at all on special educational needs in the Conservative party’s so-called alternative King’s speech? Does she share my conce…”

“I start by declaring that I am the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for schools, learning and assessment, of the all-party parliamentary group on social mobility, and of the all-party parliamentary group for classics. I welcome the ambitious agenda set out yesterday in a King’s Speech that places working peop…”

“No, that was just an example. You have addressed the core of my question but, Victoria, do you want to add anything?”

“How do we get the balance right between making sure that we are teaching reading proficiency—the close reading skills that are really important—while also encouraging reading for pleasure? What are some of the things we can do to fix the problem you have identified?”

“When I visit my local schools, particularly my local primary schools, I see teachers working really hard both to pick exciting class texts to read with children and to foster reading for pleasure. Those are, of course, two distinct things, and our inquiry is very deliberately looking at reading for pleasure. What influ…”

“How do we get the balance right between making sure that we are teaching reading proficiency—the close reading skills that are really important—while also encouraging reading for pleasure? What are some of the things we can do to fix the problem you have identified?”

“No, that was just an example. You have addressed the core of my question but, Victoria, do you want to add anything?”

“When I visit my local schools, particularly my local primary schools, I see teachers working really hard both to pick exciting class texts to read with children and to foster reading for pleasure. Those are, of course, two distinct things, and our inquiry is very deliberately looking at reading for pleasure. What influ…”

“But you seem to be setting out to the Committee that the way you enforce those community guidelines—the way you ensure that the content being served on your platform is both within those guidelines and, more broadly, within the law—is much more strongly monitored and enforced in the public side of your app than in the …”

“There are now 16% fewer people working on that. On the point around AI, your co-founder and CEO said, “a new way of working that is faster and more efficient” is now needed—presumably referring to AI and other solutions. What assurances can you give us that the safety of children can be made faster and more efficient t…”

“You say that you cannot give us exact numbers and you cannot give us complete reassurance that the team will not be affected by workforce changes. Could you write to the Committee, please, on both of those points to confirm how large the team is here in the UK and whether it is being affected by any workforce changes?”

“You are in charge of platform safety at the global level. Could you explain the structure of Snap here in the UK and what team you have here in the UK that works in-country to provide safety on your platform, so that when, for example, families raise concerns, they are being handled in-country?”

“The reason Snap was not able to provide a witness at last week’s Committee session was that it was laying off 16% of its workforce and aiming to use AI to reduce costs by £368 million a year. What assurances can you give this Committee that Snap will not be reducing staffing in its safeguarding teams as part of those w…”

“Your rules for using the platform presumably apply equally in both public and private parts of your app.”