The Labour Party has some Methodist roots (possibly more than Socialist) and has long included a petty-authoritarian faction. Starmer and Shabana Mahmood are very much of that tendency. See also bans on anti-genocide protests, the failed-yet-again ID card scheme, cruel treatment towards asylum seekers and trans people, continuing opposition towards soft-drug decriminalisation, and upholding previous age-verification and porn bans.

It's idiotic because Labour's chances of seizing the curtain-twitcher vote from Labour and Reform are next to nil.

But I suppose Starmer's too afraid to stand up to Trump, so there needs to be some kind of "think of the children" displacement activity to stay in the press.