We have all rightly been appalled at the revelations about Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring, and the rich and powerful men associated with him. We have rightly condemned Peter Mandelson and led calls for him to be held to account.

Sexual abuse in whatever form is totally unacceptable. Survivors should be believed, and those responsible should always be held properly to account.

But we have to be honest – that hasn’t always been the case in our party. There are people who have come forward with credible allegations who haven’t been believed. People who didn’t have their complaints investigated, or did but in a way that did not meet the standards we should expect.

That’s why we have, in recent years, strengthened our rules and overhauled our complaints processes to deliver justice. Our party handles complaints better today than it did in the past.

So today I am asking you: if you are a survivor of sexual abuse, misconduct or harassment at the hands of a party member, employee, official or parliamentarian – no matter when it occurred – please consider coming forward and making a complaint today.

You can find details of how to do that here.

Help us hold those responsible to account. Help us stamp out this sort of appalling behaviour in our party – and across our society.

This LGBT+ History Month we celebrate the contributions of LGBT+ people throughout history, reflect on the struggles they have faced and reaffirm our determination to make progress on equality.

LGBT+ people have always existed. From artists, activists and athletes to scientists, innovators and pioneers, they have helped shape our country and our world, even when their sexuality and stories were erased. This year’s theme, Science and Innovation, highlights the vital contributions LGBT+ people have made to fields from healthcare and engineering to environmental science and technology and reminds us that diverse voices have driven progress for everyone.

From Barbara Burford, a medical researcher who established NHS equality and diversity guidelines to Alan Turing, a mathematician who conceived modern computing and played a crucial part in the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, to Robert Boyle, a founder of modern chemistry and the modern scientific method, history is littered with the contributions of LGBT+ scientists. However, this month also calls for honesty. For too long, science has been misused to pathologise and marginalise LGBT+ identities, causing real harm. Still today, many LGBT+ people face discrimination in healthcare, education, housing and employment, as well as being victims of hate crime and hostility. No one should be made to feel unsafe, invisible or lesser simply because of who they are.

The Liberal Democrats have a proud legacy of leading the fight for LGBTQ+ equality. From repealing Section 28 – the Conservatives’ law which prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities – thanks to a clause moved by Ed Davey, to Lynne Featherstone’s tireless efforts to legalise same-sex marriage, and the former Liberal Democrat MP John Leech securing pardons for those unjustly criminalised for their sexuality, our party has always stood on the right side of history. That same commitment drives us today.

The Liberal Democrats believe that everyone should be free to live authentically, without fear or prejudice. That is why, through our policy Free To Be Who You Are, we remain committed to banning all forms of conversion practices, strengthening protections against discrimination and hate crime, improving access to inclusive healthcare, and delivering a new LGBTQ+ Action Plan to drive progress across government. Because everyone deserves full and equal access to healthcare, education, workplaces, and the protections and freedoms every citizen enjoys.

This LGBT+ History Month, we honour the trailblazers who came before, celebrate the contributions of LGBT+ people today, and stand with the next generation as they push for a fairer, more inclusive future. Our message is unwavering: you belong, your history matters, and we will continue fighting for a country where everyone is truly free to be who they are.

The United Kingdom is at its best when we’re true to our values: tolerance, decency, respect for individual freedom and the rule of law. 

We can’t let Nigel Farage throw that all away by turning Britain into Trump’s America. 

Choose a brighter future with the Liberal Democrats.

On Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust, and the millions of others killed under Nazi persecution. We honour the survivors and their testimony, and we renew our commitment to building a country where Jewish people – indeed, all people – can live, worship and gather in safety.

For so many of Britain’s Jews, today is deeply personal – a day of grief, remembrance and resilience.

We are proud of the role Britain played in standing against Nazism and helping to bring an end to the Holocaust. That legacy brings with it a responsibility to remember the past honestly and to ensure that the warning signs of hatred and dehumanisation are never ignored again. 

Sadly, this year, Holocaust Memorial Day comes at a time when antisemitism continues to be on the rise. Jewish people in the UK are facing unacceptable levels of hatred and violence. Synagogues and community centres require security simply to function day to day. Jewish communities have suffered horrifying attacks, both here and abroad, that have left them grieving and shaken.

Today, our thoughts are also with the families and loved ones of all those who lost their lives in these senseless and devastating acts of violence. Jewish communities should not have to endure this before the seriousness of the threat they face today is fully recognised and acted upon.

Holocaust Memorial Day is also about responsibility. It asks each of us what we will do to confront prejudice when we see it, to speak out when hatred is excused, and to stand alongside those who are targeted, so that one of the greatest horrors in history is never repeated.

Today, the Liberal Democrats stand unequivocally with Jewish communities of the past and the present. Antisemitism has no place in our country or abroad. We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure Jewish people can live openly, practise their faith freely, and participate fully in society without fear. Put simply, we will continue to work for a society that has learned the lessons of history.

Tech companies have for far too long treated children as data to be mined rather than young people to be protected. They have let harmful content roam free on their sites from perpetuating negative body image to amplifying extreme and violent content. They have built addictive algorithms designed to keep children endlessly doom-scrolling at the expense of their mental health. 

But we know that blanket bans cannot work in the digital age and we must instead look at a new standard of age-appropriate online safety online like the offline world.

That’s why the Liberal Democrats are proposing a world-first film-style age-rating for online platforms, including social media. This is an approach supported by children’s charities like the NSPCC.

This would mean platforms would be required to age-gate content at an appropriate level according to a new Ofcom framework looking at the addictiveness of their platform design, the impact on children’s mental health, and the harmfulness of the content they host. 

The default age would be at 16 for social media, with the onus on big tech giants to make significant changes to their platform design before they can be rated lower. For those that host harmful content such as violence and pornography, this age could be set higher than 16.

Liberal Democrats believe that the responsibility for enforcement should be on the social media giants. We would give Ofcom the power to hit profits with “business disruption orders,” making it more expensive for tech giants to break the rules while ensuring the regulator has the teeth to enforce the new age-ratings.

We think these new age-ratings will also empower parents and young people to be informed about the risks of harmful online content and features through clear guidance and an understandable framework that mirrors existing best practices. 

Importantly, this model is future-proof and builds on the lessons from Australia’s social media ban. This would end the whack-a-mole approach of online safeguarding by providing a clear framework of standards for platforms. As new dangers inevitably emerge – such as unsafe chatbots, online gaming, or AI-driven harms – they can be quickly categorised and rated against clear and understandable principles of harm.

Victoria Collins MP
Spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Technology