Labour has announced plans to allocate £36 million to help schools train young male influencers to combat the influence of figures like Andrew Tate, the self-professed misogynist who faces rape and human-trafficking charges in Romania. Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the peer-to-peer mentoring programme would provide a “powerful counterbalance” to negative online content.
Under the proposals, “regional improvement teams” would be sent into schools to train staff on introducing the mentoring scheme. Phillipson expressed hope that the young male mentors could later become online influencers themselves, helping to “shift the discussion around what it is to be growing up as a young man today in modern Britain.”
Phillipson emphasised the importance of tackling misogyny “head on” in schools, stating that both young men and women must be involved in calling out unacceptable behaviour. She said, “It’s really powerful if men all step in and make clear that kind of sexist or misogynistic behaviour is not acceptable.”
Labour would also consider introducing lessons on how to spot disinformation as part of a wider curriculum review. Phillipson argued that young people need “critical-thinking skills to assess what they’re seeing” online, rather than simply being taught how to use technology.
The shadow education secretary did not back calls for banning smartphones or social media for children, noting that many schools set homework online. Separately, Phillipson is focusing on childcare reform, including creating nursery places in primary schools to better align early-years education with the school system.
