Brianna Ghey's brave mum Esther holds talks with Rishi Sunak after trans jibe
The brave mum of murdered teen Brianna Ghey has held talks with Rishi Sunak as she put his trans jibe behind them.
Esther Ghey and the Prime Minister had a “positive” video call about her campaign over teens’ access to social media. One of her daughter's killers had viewed extreme violence on the "dark web" before murdering 16-year-old Brianna.
Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, who were both 15 at the time they killed the transgender teen, were jailed for life last month. The pair stabbed Brianna 28 times in a frenzied attack with a hunting knife after she was lured to a park.
Ms Ghey set up the Peace in Mind campaign to raise cash to train teachers in mindfulness techniques and help kids deal with negative emotions. She has also called for children under-16s to be banned from social media and have smartphones with no access to networking apps.
She said she had a "productive" meeting with Mr Sunak and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan about her campaign. “Approaching the meeting as both a parent and the Prime Minister, Rishi listened to my thoughts around both Mindfulness in Schools and concerns over mobile phone safety for our children," she said.
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Esther, the mum of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey, has been campaigning on teens' access to social media since the murder of her daughter“The Prime Minister showed his concerns and support for many of the points raised – making a real commitment in supporting parents and taking suggestions on board around the dangers and issues faced by our young people. Likewise, having spoken to the education secretary before the meeting, Rishi also showed his support for programmes to help support the wellbeing and mental health of children."
She described the meeting as "an encouraging start and I hope to continue to work with Rishi, Michelle and other leaders across government to make the world a safer, more empathetic and resilient place".
Mr Sunak's deputy spokeswoman said the PM expressed his condolences to Ms Ghey and thanked her for her campaign work during the meeting. "They discussed the importance of letting children be children and giving them the very best start in life," she said.
"That's something that he considers one of his responsibilities as prime minister. The Prime Minister said that the Government's gathering evidence on what mental health support works best and asked for her support in the Government's work on this"
It comes after Mr Sunak faced criticism last month for making a jibe about transgender people during Prime Minister's Questions while Ms Ghey was in Parliament. It is understood Ms Ghey and the PM did not discuss the comment in their meeting.
After the comments were made, Ms Ghey said: "I don’t wish to comment on reports of wording or comments recently made. My focus is on creating a positive change and a lasting legacy for Brianna." Ms Ghey has previously said creating the campaign helped her "focus on something positive" and has meant "something good has come out of the tragic situation."
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