Prime Minister Has "Full Confidence" In Minister Jess Phillips To Deliver Grooming Gangs Inquiry
A group of grooming gang survivors have called for the resignation of safeguarding minister Jess Phillips (Alamy)
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The Prime Minister still has "full confidence" in safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, who the government has said will stay in post despite mounting criticism from grooming gangs survivors.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister's spokesperson said that Keir Starmer has “full confidence” in Phillips, who has “spent her career fighting for victims and survivors and trying to protect them from abuse”.
Four survivors who quit the government’s grooming gangs inquiry have demanded Phillips resign from her post before they agree to return to the inquiry’s panel. They also expressed doubts about two candidates proposed to chair the inquiry, who have both withdrawn from the process. A government source said it would likely take months to appoint the eventual chair.
The women, who had stood down from the panel over concerns about the inquiry’s direction and a lack of transparency, have accused Phillips of “betrayal” and of dismissing their concerns.
In a letter to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, first reported by The Telegraph, the women said Phillips’ “conduct over the last week has shown she is unfit to oversee a process that requires survivors to trust the government”.
“Her departure would signal you are serious about accountability and changing direction,” they wrote.
The survivors set out five conditions for rejoining the inquiry, including a consultation on appointing a senior judge to chair it and keeping its focus solely on grooming gangs.
The Prime Minister's spokesperson confirmed to reporters on Thursday that the inquiry “is not and will never be watered down”.
“Its scope will not change, nor will its intent,” they continued.
“It will be robust and rigorous, and the minister will continue working incredibly closely with victims and survivors to support them.”
The national inquiry into child sexual exploitation by grooming gangs was announced by Starmer in June, with the promise that survivors would help guide its work.
On Tuesday, Phillips published a public letter rejecting claims the inquiry’s scope would be broadened beyond grooming gangs, calling such reports “untrue”.
In response to the criticism from survivors, the Prime Minister's spokesperson said: “We welcome them coming forward so we can better listen and better understand.
“Victims and survivors are and will always be at the heart of everything we're doing to root out this evil,” he said.
“We know that they have all had unique and harrowing experiences. If they have concerns about the process of course we welcome them coming forward."
Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister defended Phillips on Thursday morning, saying she has the “full backing of the prime minister and home secretary” and will stay in post.
Some survivors who remain on the panel have backed the inquiry’s current approach. Samantha Walker-Roberts, from Oldham, said its scope should include all forms of child sexual abuse, warning that other victims risk being “silenced” if the focus is too narrow.
