Tuesday's ITV News at Ten - pressure builds on PM after 81,000 respond to social media consultation

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:01]It all makes for pretty bleak reading for social media bosses. [music] Doctors said their platforms were as damaging for teenagers as smoking, and 81,000 [music] people gave their votes to the government's consultation, which closes at midnight, with many parents leaving the Prime Minister [music] in no doubt as to their views.

[00:00:22]We said, "How many more children have to die and suffer before [music] something else happens?" Government have a duty of care to look after their citizens, and obviously [music] the children. So, I think they really do need to step up.

[00:00:32]>> now is not whether we do something. We are going to act.

[00:00:37]The question, though, is what action.

[00:00:38][music] Sir Keir Starmer's ability to act boldly and in line with public opinion appears to be once [music] again on the line. Also, on News at Ten tonight.

[00:00:48]35°, the hottest day in May in history, and the trend is clear, spring [music] has been getting hotter.

[00:00:56]The Prime Minister responds to the public outrage over the sentencing of the teenage rapist and sends the case [music] to the Court of Appeal.

[00:01:05]NASA talks about its plans for a settlement on the moon, and the incredible story of the paraglider who had her canopy torn by a plane >> [music] >> and survived.

[00:01:25]>> [music] >> This is ITV News at Ten [music] with Tom Bradby.

[00:01:42]Good evening.

[00:01:43]>> [music] >> Could it be that the Prime Minister has finally got the message and is at last ready to ban social media for the under-16s? In other words, place the safety of children before the profits of the tech companies, as bereaved parents who met him today, put it. He told them he would take action within weeks without saying what that action would actually be. As well as Keir Starmer seeing the people who know better than anyone how dangerous social media can be, eminent doctors have weighed in.

[00:02:12]They say social media is akin to smoking, as addictive and as dangerous to health, physical and mental. His former health secretary and potential leadership rival Wes Streeting got stuck into And then there's public opinion. In a little under 2 hours at midnight, the government's own consultation period closes. 81,000 people have taken part, more than half of them parents.

[00:02:39]These bereaved families have come to Downing Street to show the human cost of social media.

[00:02:46]Making the case to the Prime Minister for tougher restrictions on young people's access.

[00:02:52]He said to us it would be a a case of weeks that we hear something rather than months. Um so, fingers crossed we're not waiting. We also said to the Prime Minister that we want robust action and that takes courage and we asked him to have the political courage and the political leadership to stand up to big tech today. These tech companies are hugely powerful.

[00:03:11]Are you confident from what you've heard today that the Prime Minister's got what it takes to take them on? Well, this is the thing. We want him, he's the first Prime Minister to have all the bereaved families sitting around that table. Government have a duty of care to look after their citizens and obviously the children. So, I think they really do need to step up and be really strong, really assertive and make sure that that happens and not be scared by the big tech companies. The Prime Minister was visiting a nursery in Sussex today. Keir Starmer says when these children reach their teenage years, their ability to use social media won't be the same. I'll be really clear.

[00:03:48]The question now is not whether we do something. We are going to act. I'm absolutely clear that this needs to be something where there's a game-changer.

[00:03:57]The pressure to act is growing as a group of senior doctors say social media is as bad for children as smoking. The addictive algorithms cause severe harm.

[00:04:07]This can be seen as children accessing extreme violence or pornography, but also not undertaking physical activity, not getting out, not socializing and learning to play, and learning to be with other people. Those severe harms are happening now.

[00:04:23]We don't yet know what action the government might take, but as well as seeking views on an outright social media ban for under 16s, its consultation also asked about whether platforms should be required to switch off addictive features like infinite scrolling, mandatory overnight curfews, and how age verification should be strengthened.

[00:04:45]The former health secretary Wes Streeting, who quit cabinet less than 2 weeks ago, says Keir Starmer has been too slow to act. It's certainly fair to say the Prime Minister has needed persuading on this issue. Uh I think it's important in politics that we are able to debate, and I think one of the weaknesses of the government's position has been an unwillingness to confront powerful vested interests in Big Tech.

[00:05:10]In December, Australia became the first country in the world to ban under 16s from social media. The impact is still unclear. But tougher restrictions here in the UK could be announced within weeks.

[00:05:26]And Harry is here to talk about all this. I mean, let's face it, the social media bosses are not the world's most popular people, but clearly a lot of people do want to see action, but as you've said, it's complicated. What is the Prime Minister going to do, do you think? Well, it's still not clear, and it's not clear whether the government will go ahead with an outright ban on social media for under 16s like we've seen in Australia.

[00:05:50]And to be clear, the results of that are mixed depending on who you speak to.

[00:05:54]There's lots of evidence to suggest that young people in Australia have found workarounds to that ban. There is a government minister in Australia at the moment trying to learn some lessons from that ahead of any decision about what proposals we might see in the UK. And it's also worth saying those bereaved families who were in Downing Street today, some of those families think an outright ban on social media for under under 16s is not the best proposal.

[00:06:17]Tech companies, they make the argument that there should be a regulation of features rather than a regulation of platforms uh as a whole. Um on this issue as a whole though, there's been a big political shift in the last 12 months or so. The Conservative Party [snorts] in opposition, they say they want to see an outright ban on social media for under 16s.

[00:06:38]We are hearing more and more Labour MPs making the case. And you heard Wes Streeting in my report there, former health secretary, saying that he thinks the Prime Minister has been holding some of them back. And actually, he thinks the government has been reluctant to have that fight with big tech companies. Now, Keir Starmer certainly sounded a lot more confident today in the arguments that he was making. Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, she says we'll get these proposals by the summer. And she says if legislation is required, that will come into force by the end of the year.

[00:07:10]Okay, let's see. Harry, thank you very much indeed.

[00:07:14]Now, you had another heat record was broken today. You probably knew that already. Temperatures hit 35.1 Celsius at Kew Gardens in London, making today now the hottest day in May on record, not yesterday. In London right now, it's still 26° hotter at 10:00 p.m. in spring than on an average hot summer's day.

[00:07:34]Zooming out, the trend is clear. Springs are indeed getting hotter on average.

[00:07:38]Eight of the UK's 10 hottest springs have occurred this century. our three hottest springs have all occurred since 2017. And while thousands of people have been enjoying the bank holiday heatwave, four families will forever remember this time of year for losing a teenager, incredibly sadly, to drowning.

[00:07:59]Temperatures are increasing, and so are the risks of getting into danger in the water. Over the bank holiday weekend, four teenagers drowned.

[00:08:09]13-year-old Rico Pinnock was found at Leadbeater Dam near Halifax yesterday.

[00:08:14]And on Sunday, emergency services tried to save a 15-year-old boy who got into difficulty at Swan Home Lake in Lincoln.

[00:08:22]Declan Sawyer had been out playing in the hot weather. His father has paid tribute to his son saying, "He had a very cheeky smile and the personality to match.

[00:08:33]He was very much loved by his friends and family and will be missed dearly by many."

[00:08:39]Another teenage boy was found at Rother Valley Park in South Yorkshire, and an investigation has been launched after a girl was found near a water park in Warwickshire. This is the hottest day in May on record. In the blistering heat, emergency services are warning people to be aware of cold water shock. There's so many dangers that are associated with it. That could be the flow of the water.

[00:09:02]It could be natural occurrences like strainers, or it could be what's uh what is turned cold water reflex shock, which can be the most dangerous of all.

[00:09:11]The highest temperatures were recorded at Heathrow and Kew Gardens today, reaching 35° for the first time. In Edinburgh, plumes of smoke blew across the Scottish capital as wildfires ignited in Holyrood Park.

[00:09:26]This is the second consecutive day of record-breaking temperatures across the UK with warnings the heat could impact the most vulnerable. There are amber weather alerts in place here in the southwest and across much of the Midlands and southeast of England until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The UK Health Security Agency warns there will be an increased risk for the elderly and also health care workers with more pressure on the NHS.

[00:09:51]There were also warnings for those returning to work today with many businesses having to close due to unsafe conditions. Unions are calling for a maximum temperature to be set for workplaces. The government says it has no plans to impose this. Just how concerning is this for you? It's incredibly dangerous as we all know. You know, we've got amber alert warnings. A lot of us already adapting to just our day-to-day lives. You know, we've got people being told to stay indoors, especially those more vulnerable. Now, apply that to a workplace setting. Why should it be any different? The question now becomes at what point do we need to get to for them to start taking the situation seriously?

[00:10:27]For many, this is ideal half-term holiday weather. But, there are more health warnings for the vulnerable as more extreme conditions are forecast with thunderstorms now on the horizon.

[00:10:39]Sangita Lal, News at 10, Bristol.

[00:10:44]The public, political, and vividly personal outrage at two 15-year-old boys being spared jail after multiple convictions for raping two girls has prompted a referral for undue leniency to the court of appeal. The trial judge had said he wanted to avoid criminalizing them and gave them youth rehabilitation orders, not youth custody. Three more senior judges will now give their opinion.

[00:11:10]This recreation ground in Fordingbridge was where two teenage boys repeatedly raped a 14-year-old girl in January last year. A third boy, who was 13, aided and encouraged the attack. In this CCTV footage, you can see the distant light of a mobile phone used to take videos in which the boys can be heard laughing.

[00:11:33]Some were shared online.

[00:11:35]Two months earlier, the pair, who were 14 at the time, had carried out a similar attack on a 15-year-old girl in a nearby underpass.

[00:11:45]When handing them youth rehabilitation orders rather than jail time at Southampton Crown Court, the judge said he wanted to avoid criminalizing the boys unnecessarily. But today, the Prime Minister confirmed that decision will be reviewed. There are questions about the sentence. That case now will go to the court of appeal, and the court of appeal will now review the sentence in that case. And that is clearly the right outcome. But additional pain has already been inflicted on the victims. With her identity protected, one told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg how the sentencing felt. The words hit like a rock, straight in my face. It sort of gave me a sense of what's the point? Like, what was the point in putting me through that just to say that? It's fine. And according to the government's former violence against women and girls minister, the damage is far-reaching.

[00:12:38]There will be groups online now talking about how people get away with this sort of crime, and it is hard enough to ask young people to uh or or anyone to come forward without a message of you could go through a 2-year-long traumatic rape trial, and this would be the outcome. The boys planned their crimes, filmed them, and walked free.

[00:13:04]But that could change. In a statement, the Attorney General Richard Hermer said this is a horrific case, and that he wants to bring closure to the victims and their families. His referral to the Court of Appeal means three senior judges will now review the case and decide whether or not the sentences were appropriate.

[00:13:26]Carrie Davis, News at 10, at the Royal Courts of Justice.

[00:13:32]A 30-year-old woman who was shot in the early hours of yesterday outside a bar in Sheffield and died later was doing nothing more than enjoying a night out in the city center. Police described her as an innocent bystander. They haven't named her yet, but her family has been told what happened. Three people are under arrest, a man from Sheffield and a man and woman from across the Pennines in Stockport.

[00:13:57]Now, Iran has denounced the latest American strikes on the south of the country as a violation of the current unsteady ceasefire between the two. The United States called it a defensive action. It is not the only ceasefire in the Middle East that is hanging by a thread tonight. Emma is here to talk about all this. Louis, I mean I mean Donald Trump's constantly saying things about the state of these discussions, isn't he? But I guess what people I mean it's been going on these you know, this way, that way, what's going on, what's not going on for weeks and weeks. I guess what people want to know tonight is really where do you think we are?

[00:14:33]Well, I think we're in a situation where we have a ceasefire in name only in three separate conflicts. If you go through it, the situation in Gaza is incredibly wobbly. The situation in Lebanon is perilous and we've seen an expansion of the Israeli attacks across that country. We've seen more than 100 today resulting in the deaths of 10 individuals at least and that is a situation where we're told there is a full ceasefire in place just as in Gaza and also just as in Iran. And I think the situation in Iran is now again hanging by a thread, but what I would say about the situation there is I don't think America wants that to break down.

[00:15:13]They know that economically they absolutely have to do everything they possibly can to keep this steady. Now, if we look at what happened last night, America said they took action because they saw um members of the Iranian Republican Guard on a boat or two boats laying mines. That was the American justification for why they chose to open fire when they had retaliatory fire from Iran. There was then more fire from the United States. Now we have competing narratives here, probably unsurprisingly.

[00:15:45]But neither side has actually gone that extra step and said that's the end of the ceasefire. Iran has said it's a violation and this kind of mischief will not go unpunished. But they haven't gone any further than that at this point. And we've had uh peace talks or conversations in um Qatar during the course of the day with the Iranians. And they say that they've gone quite well. I think the reality is that both the Americans and the Iranians know what's at stake and the horrendous consequences if this truly does break down. From um a global point of view, the biggest consequence is the Strait of Hormuz and whether or not that opens. Of course, that is something that was not part of the original discussion with regard to this war. That's something that was working fine until President Trump started this war.

[00:16:30]Okay, fingers crossed it comes to an end. Thank you, Emma, very much indeed.

[00:16:34]Now, NASA's ambition and timetable for people to live and work on the moon became that much clearer tonight. A permanent base could be open for business by 2032. A first outpost beyond Earth, NASA called it this evening. One of the drivers of that ambition is the space race with China, of course.

[00:16:54]Breathtaking in ambition, NASA has now revealed its plans to develop a permanent lunar base.

[00:17:01]>> [music] >> It is intended to be a launchpad for exploration and a testing ground for new technologies and space infrastructure.

[00:17:11]4 3 2 1 Booster ignition and lift off. And it builds on the success of Artemis 2 in April. Now bound for the moon.

[00:17:22]Which took the four astronauts around the far side of the moon and was a critical evaluation of the Orion crew module.

[00:17:29]But the next set of missions bring far greater challenges, establishing a permanent outpost on the lunar surface.

[00:17:37]We are leveraging the NASA playbook from the 1960s, figuring out what works and what doesn't in this epic science of survival because the moon base is as beautiful as it is hostile.

[00:17:50]In sunlight, the surface can heat to over 250°.

[00:17:54]In darkness, it can drop well below -200. There is no atmosphere to moderate these extremes, no protection from radiation and solar particle events.

[00:18:02]The construction will start by 2029.

[00:18:06]And the plan is for a sustained presence by 2032.

[00:18:12]And this will be driven by private companies building landers and rovers, lunar drones, and constellations of satellites. We are building humanity's first outpost beyond Earth.

[00:18:23]Through Artemis, we are going and with moon base, we're going to stay. We are creating a future where exploration is not just an incredible moment in history, but the first foothold beyond Earth for all of humanity.

[00:18:37]But behind it all is superpower competition. For China is also aiming to build a lunar base.

[00:18:43]Revealing these wildly futuristic-looking plans for a city on the moon.

[00:18:49]Whether these rival ideas ever get off the ground depends on sustained political commitment and vast amounts of funding.

[00:18:57]But NASA, dismissing skeptics, is declaring this a new golden age of exploration.

[00:19:04]Robert Moore, News at 10, Washington.

[00:19:09]Now, Nicholas Sturgeon has put out a second statement in two days to say she didn't know her estranged husband had been embezzling thousands from the SNP, the party she led of course. Peter Murrell pleaded guilty yesterday. The denials of the former First Minister haven't stopped the accusations. They have been fueled by unearthed pictures of her with items which match the inventory of Mr. Murrell's shopping bought with other people's money. Though she says she assumed they were things he'd purchased with his own cash.

[00:19:39]As S NP chief executive married to Nicola Sturgeon, Peter Murrell was used to the cameras. This one though was for police.

[00:19:47]Murrell admits embezzling more than 400,000 pounds. His catalog of crimes reveals extraordinary detail after detail.

[00:19:55]Murrell's infamous motorhome bought with almost 125,000 pounds of party money then stored on his mom's drive.

[00:20:02]He might not have been a seasoned criminal, but he was extravagant.

[00:20:06]Crystal salt and pepper grinders for over 2,600 pounds. Yes, you heard that right. A copy of Grand Theft Auto where he could play a criminal.

[00:20:15]Two Dyson hair dryers which may not have been used by Peter Murrell. He even bought a Monopoly board game.

[00:20:22]Murrell has now gone straight to jail.

[00:20:25]All because of this pro-independence activist. How are you feeling right now?

[00:20:29]Vindicated and relieved. He noticed donations missing from SNP accounts and filed the police complaint that led to Operation Branchform. These were people who are working class who gave more money than they could afford and had the money stolen and some of them have died since that happened and families are very angry about what happened and they want justice. That's what needs to take place. So this is not finished. This is only the start. To the 88 workers The SNP's former treasurer was arrested and later cleared in this investigation.

[00:21:01]Today he was asked why he failed to spot the missing money.

[00:21:05]This is a very complex operation.

[00:21:07]And Peter went to extreme uh criminal lengths to cover his tracks.

[00:21:15]Oh. Nicola Sturgeon was also arrested and later cleared. At the time she indicated she was helping police. As has been the case, there will continue to be full cooperation. It's now known she in fact offered a standard no comment during her entire police interview. The current SNP leader was asked about this today and gave a similar response. Do you think that a no comment interview is fully uncooperative with police? Uh I've got no comment to offer about police investigations.

[00:21:42]Questions are still being asked about items like this designer red handbag or this thousand pound pen, which appear to match Murrell's illegal purchases.

[00:21:51]Sturgeon often showed off this home library.

[00:21:53]>> Special favorites here. We now know Murrell's stolen funds also helped to pay for a home library. In a statement, Nicola Sturgeon said she had no reason to doubt her husband had used his own money and they had separate bank accounts. She's determined not to be held responsible for the crimes of her husband, who she says deceived her.

[00:22:12]Murrell will be sentenced next month.

[00:22:15]Peter Smith, News at 10, Glasgow.

[00:22:19]There was a shock announcement from the big British oil business BP. Its chairman is leaving after less than a year. The company said there had been serious concerns about Albert Manifold's conduct and his running of the company, which had surprised and disappointed the board of directors.

[00:22:37]>> [clears throat] >> Now, you might not know him by name, but you will certainly know the work of screenwriter Jack Thorne. Examples coming right up. But his other behind-the-scenes role is in encouraging fellow disabled people to follow his lead in making it in television. Jack Thorne was disabled as a university student with restricted movement from a a chronic allergy to heat. He told us it is vital that disabled young people can work in accessible places.

[00:23:07]Good matters. You can't fail to notice Jack Thorne's work.

[00:23:11]>> I have never felt the way that you make me feel. I'm so sorry. From this current TV drama, Falling, his screenwriting credits include Adolescence and Toxic Town. But as someone with disabilities, for years he has been using his platform to get others noticed. This is the future and it and and the amazing thing is it's not just about uh bedrooms and study, it's also about accessible areas where people can talk. And this is one of the results. A fully accessible accommodation block under construction at the National Film and Television School.

[00:23:45]What difference would this have made to you when you were here? Uh massively. It would mean I would have come uh been able to do a full-time course here.

[00:23:53]When it's completed, students with disabilities will be able to live and study on a site where mobility issues are a priority, allowing them to learn in world-class studios and get a chance in the industry.

[00:24:05]When the TV Access project was first set up, there was uh there was one um uh accessible toilet in the whole of the UK for location filming.

[00:24:15]So, if you needed to use the loo and you were a disabled person, you had to find either a different way or you had to either drive to Tesco or Sainsbury's and use their toilets and then drive back to set, or you had to crawl across the floor. There's such a value in telling these stories, and they need to be told by disabled people, and that starts behind the camera in all cases. So, it's really important to train these people up in places like this that, you know, are so that seemed so unaccessible for so long.

[00:24:44]One of the most common questions I get is, "Bella, what is the hardest thing about living with lymphedema?" Bella Roberts has documented living with a condition which causes her body to swell and tires her out. Getting employers to understand her disability was difficult, she says, when she started out as a runner, a job supporting TV production staff. I did loads of trial shifts when I began.

[00:25:07]And I could tell like when I left those shifts that I just wasn't getting the job. I just saw it in their eyes. And they'd be like, "Oh, like nice to meet you. Like we'll let you know."

[00:25:16]And they would give me a handshake and I knew like I wasn't getting that job.

[00:25:20]It's annoying cuz they couldn't see like my creative side or my editing side or the things I learn.

[00:25:25]They just saw somebody who couldn't be on their feet for 10 hours a day.

[00:25:29]So that was really, really tricky.

[00:25:33]Jack Thorne says he was lucky for the support he got starting out as a writer on Skins, the groundbreaking TV series.

[00:25:41]So what's this set being used for? But the first step is in places like this.

[00:25:45]The plan is to have all the building work finished and this place up and running by January of next year. And those behind the scheme are urging the industry sit up and take notice.

[00:25:58]It is a call for a change of scene that could then change the TV industry. Nina Nannar, News at 10 in Buckinghamshire.

[00:26:08]After delay upon delay in getting compensation, the sub-postmasters and mistresses now face more delays in getting justice, according to the officer leading the criminal investigation without extra funding.

[00:26:21]Can't believe I'm reading this story out again. The police were supposed to hand their files of evidence on the Post Office Horizon scandal to prosecutors by the end of next year or the start of 2028. But the senior officer of the national police inquiry said his team would need to double in size to hit that deadline, and that would need the budget to be 16 million pounds bigger.

[00:26:44]How much longer will they have to wait, you wonder? Now, paragliding is many people's idea of a pretty dangerous pursuit, and that's without having the canopy apart by a reckless plane pilot.

[00:26:54]Yet, somehow when that happened to an experienced paraglider over the Austrian Alps, she survived and lived to tell the tale.

[00:27:05]Flying through the sky above the Austrian Alps when all of a sudden a plane appears.

[00:27:17]It hits the wing above the 44-year-old paraglider sending her spiraling downwards.

[00:27:28]But, Sabrina's quick thinking may have saved her life deploying a reserve parachute as she fell through the air in time to make an emergency landing.

[00:27:46]Millions have now watched the video after she posted it on social media saying she couldn't believe she had escaped with just bruises.

[00:27:59]Jockey Sanderson has trained paragliders all over the world and says her quick thinking saved her life. Her training was fantastic. She realized what happened. She looked up, no paraglider.

[00:28:12]Straight away she looked located grass pulled punched the reserve out and she did a great job. It deployed immediately and she landed just on the side of a track next to a tree which is incredible. Thankfully, both she and the 28-year-old plane pilot escaped serious injury. He told police he was unable to avoid the collision but has now been charged with negligence.

[00:28:38]There are GPS records from the paraglider pilot. There is also a video recording and there are witnesses. All of this information is being collected and investigated.

[00:28:52]It's terrifying to watch, but could have been so much worse. And this paraglider knows she's lucky to be alive. Leila Hayes, News at 10.

[00:29:05]Amazing. Now, finally, for true petrol heads, it must seem like an uncomfortable contradiction. Ferrari's newest model is fully electric. The Luce is the company's first such car. It still has a top speed of 193 mph and does 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds. Yikes. Its look, created by former Apple iPhone designers, has taken a bit of stick. So much so that when it was revealed, Ferrari shares fell 8% on the subject of money. The Luce will sell for a reported 460,000.

[00:29:39]Double yikes. A good moment to end. Good night. Thanks for watching.