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Mary Berry, Queen of cakes, judge of The Great British Bake Off:

‘When the children and grandchildren come to see me, they hand in all their games and phones at the door. The first thing to do is to sit down, and the second is to take every mechanical aid off the table. I call it “the Downing Street rule”, because that’s what they make you do if you go to Number Ten.’

When asked whether she had adopted the modern habit of taking ‘selfies’, she said: ‘Certainly not. But people seem to want me to do one with them all the time and I’m completely baffled. Presumably they all want to tweet it and say: “I’ve just met Mary Berry.”

Emma Thompson, actress:

‘Why is it that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates never gave their children iPads or iPhones? Because they knew very well what it was! We are experimenting on an entire generation. I think there are very, very few spaces for children now. Even their bedrooms aren’t safe because of these machines. Where is there to be private and think?’