huffingtonpost - 10 days ago

Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips is under pressure to quit.Grooming gangs survivors have demanded that safeguarding minister Jess Phillips resign before they will take part in the inquiry into the scandal.The four women, who quit their roles in the probe this week, say Phillips is “unfit” to continue in her role and must leave government.In a letter to home secretary Shabana Mahmood, published on X, they accused the minister of “betrayal” after she dismissed their criticisms of how the grooming gangs inquiry is being run.Their concerns centre around fears that the scope of the inquiry may be broadened out to investigate wider sexual abuse and not just grooming gangs.Their letter said: “We raised legitimate concerns about the inquiry’s direction based on our direct experiences in the process that you called ‘justified’ and in response your safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips, called our accounts ‘untrue’.“Evidence has since proven we were telling the truth. Being publicly contradicted and dismissed by a government minister when you are a survivor telling the truth takes you right back to that feeling of not being believed all over again.“It is a betrayal that has destroyed what little trust remained.”Phillips’ resignation is top of a list of five things the women say must happen before they will consider rejoining the inquiry’s victims and survivors panel.They say: “Her 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.”Home Office sources told the BBC that Mahmood still has confidence in Phillips.Me and the other survivors have come together to speak about the main issues that lead to us resigning and we have responded to the home secretary #39;s statment last night with conditions that would need to be met to ensure that this inquiry runs smoothly for us to consider… pic.twitter.com/l6JTzHO811 Fiona goddard (@fionagoddarduk) October 22, 2025Related...Labour s Inquiry Into The Grooming Gangs Scandal Is In Crisis. Here s WhyThe Grooming Gangs Scandal: How Did We Get Here?Analysis: Keir Starmer Suffers Day From Hell As His Government s Woes Continue

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