Wes Streeting has demanded social media firms be treated like tobacco companies as he piles pressure on Keir Starmer to ban 'addictive' sites for under-16s.

The former health secretary, who quit his Cabinet role earlier this month, urged action in order to 'give our children their childhood back'.

The Government is currently consulting on how to protect children online, with potential measures including an Australian-style social media ban for under-16s, limits on addictive features and stronger controls on AI chatbots.

The consultation closes at the end of Tuesday and pressure is growing on the Prime Minister to opt for a full ban.

Mr Streeting is among those Labour MPs calling for Sir Keir to resign and is set to stand in any leadership contest to replace the PM.

Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM who is also touted as a likely leadership contender, has also urged Sir Keir to introduce a social media ban for under-16s.

Meanwhile, medical leaders have joined Mr Streeting in comparing the dangers of social media to smoking.

Mr Streeting told The Guardian: 'Social media should be treated like tobacco.

'It's extremely addictive, bad for our health, and Big Tech is borrowing the Big Tobacco playbook to avoid regulation.

'We've got to give our children their childhood back. A ban for under-16s must be the start, not the end.

'We have given the pen to tech moguls to write our future for us. It's time to take the pen back.'

Appearing on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday, Mr Streeting was quizzed about why he did not call for a ban when he was health secretary.

'I'm liberated from the obligations of collective responsibility, which now means I can now say publicly what I think,' he replied.

'I made the same arguments inside Government – I made them at Cabinet.

'I made them in a number of Cabinet committees and meetings where we were discussing issues surrounding education and wellbeing, certainly, but also violence against women and girls, where I think again we've got serious patterns of grooming, harmful behaviour.'

A report by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges submitted to the Government consultation said social media and smartphone use 'ranks alongside smoking and wearing seatbelts in cars as a unifying force for the medical profession'.

Doctors are seeing a 'wave of radicalised children' from exposure to 'hateful, addictive and grossly distressing content', the report said.

Of the 454 doctors surveyed by the academy of 22 member royal colleges, half said they treated at least one child a week whose mental distress or physical injury was linked to online content.

The report included harrowing stories of deaths and injuries from 'replicating acts of extreme pornography' and interests in violence or radicalisation.

Families who have lost relatives to harm linked to online platforms are set to meet Sir Keir on Tuesday and urge him to honour the Government's promise to impose social media restrictions on under-16s.

There have been widespread calls for the UK to follow Australia's lead on a prohibition, although there have been questions about how effective it has been.

Ministers announced in April they would introduce 'age or functionality restrictions' on social media for under-16s regardless of the consultation outcome, with proposals to be unveiled by the summer and plans to legislate before the end of the year. 

Later on Tuesday, Sir Keir said action to crack down on social media harms affecting children needs to be a 'game changer' and pledged to act 'very quickly' after the consultation closes.

He said during a visit to a nursery in East Sussex: 'The consultation on children and social media is closing this evening.

'We've had very, very many people being part of the process, either responding or in discussions with me and with others.

'I'm meeting some of the parents this afternoon.

'I'll be really clear, 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.

'So, we will be acting. The question is only what we do, and that will be coming very quickly, because we took powers earlier this year to make sure we can act very, very quickly.

'So, consultation will finish. We will then act, and we will be decisive, because it's absolutely clear to me that we need to take action to protect children, and we can act quickly.'

Anna Turley, the Labour Party chair, told Times Radio that 'nothing is off the table' as the Government considers what action to take.

She said: 'We've taken our time with this consultation to make sure that we listen to absolutely everybody to make sure we get the right outcome for the future of our children in this country.

'I'm delighted the PM is going to be meeting some families who've been affected by some of the really traumatic and terrible incidents that have occurred, who've been campaigning about social media and the impact on children today in No10.

'And I'll be there myself to listen to them, to hear their views. And I know the PM takes this extremely seriously. And nothing is off the table.'

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'How much more evidence does Starmer need? 

'Teachers, parents, medical experts, even the kids themselves are warning about the effects of social media, yet Labour are dithering.

'It’s time to do the right thing and raise the age limit for social media to 16.'