Grooming Gangs Survivors Say Labour Minister Jess Phillips Must Resign

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'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, 2025The women also say survivors must be “genuinely consulted” about who chairs the inquiry, and that victims must be free to speak openly “without fear of reprisal”.The inquiry must also remain “laser-focused” on grooming gangs, they say, and that the inquiry’s current victim liaison lead must be replaced with an independent mental health professional.“We have been failed by every institution meant to protect us,” the letter says.“We were failed as children, failed by police who didn’t believe us, failed by social services who blames us, and failed by a system that protected our abusers.“We will nto participate in an inquiry that repeats those same patterns of dismissal, secrecy and institutional self-protection.”Related...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

Comments

Breaking news

Teenager who stabbed Harvey Willgoose took an axe to school weeks before murder

Metro

Amid fundraising woes and rumors of a Democrat mutiny against him, John Fetterman slams Kamala Harris for calling Trump a ‘fascist’

about 3 hours ago

Philippine victims of 2021 typhoon seek compensation from Shell

Independent

Comments

Similar News

Grooming gang survivors demand Jess Phillips RESIGNS as safeguarding minister after ‘destroying trust’ in inquiry

Grooming gang victims call for Jess Phillips to resign as probe faces further turmoil

Jess Phillips will not resign over grooming gangs row, minister insists

Pressure mounts on Jess Phillips as victims warn grooming gangs inquiry will FAIL unless Labour minister is sacked

Pressure mounts on No 10 over grooming inquiry as survivors list demands

Potential grooming gangs chair accuses Kemi Badenoch of 'weaponising' inquiry

Why Are Survivors Quitting The Grooming Gangs Inquiry?

Keir Starmer calls in backup for grooming gangs inquiry after survivors quit

Grooming gang inquiry plunged into fresh chaos as frontrunner to chair probe pulls out

Jim Gamble, a frontrunner to become chair of grooming gang inquiry, withdraws, Sky News understands

Candidates to lead grooming gangs inquiry may now think twice about role

London Mayor Khan, Met Police Face Accusations of 'Cover Up' over Long Rumoured Grooming Gangs in Capital

Driver is jailed for killing social worker, 33, who helped bring grooming gang to justice when he ploughed into her in his modified BMW

Grooming gangs inquiry shambles deepens as ANOTHER candidate for chair pulls out - while wriggling Starmer fends off calls for Jess Phillips to quit over 'cover-up'

Labour's Inquiry Into The Grooming Gangs Scandal Is In Crisis. Here's Why

Baroness Casey hauled in to save grooming gangs inquiry after four survivors quit, Starmer announces at PMQs

Watch live: Keir Starmer faces PMQs grilling on child grooming gang inquiry

Keir Starmer vows grooming gang inquiry won't be watered down as survivors hit out

PMQs LIVE: Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch go head-to-head amid grooming gang row

Jess Phillips faces demands to QUIT as Labour is accused of 'watering down' grooming gang inquiry after four victims quit panel

Breaking news

Teenager who stabbed Harvey Willgoose took an axe to school weeks before murder

Three men arrested in London under National Security Act for ‘helping Russia’

Man behind Iran’s hijab crackdown accused of double standards for daughter’s Western wedding dress

Autistic man sacked by Waitrose gets offered new job at Asda

Three people arrested after bar worker, 20, found dead in flat in Manchester

Why did Queen Camilla wear black when meeting the Pope at the Vatican?

'I Knew I'd S**t Myself': Katherine Ryan Shares Her Lightning Fast Birth Story

How To Dry Brush (And Why It's So Good For Your Skin) According To Dermatologists

Here's How Chefs Get Crispy Chicken Skin Without Drying The Breast Out

The Grim Reason Your Kid Keeps Saying 'Good Boy' – And How To Respond When They Do

BBC Dismisses Popular Celebrity Traitors Fan Theory

Joe Marler Says This 1 Part Of Celebrity Traitors Made Him 'Incredibly Uncomfortable'

Tess Daly And Claudia Winkleman Quit Strictly Come Dancing

I'm An Online Harms Expert, Here's Why I'm Terrified Of Digital ID For Kids

Everything We Know About That Celebrity Traitors Roundtable Tiebreak

Let's Settle It: Are Free Weights Or Machines Better For Muscle Growth?

Here's Who's Playing The Cowardly Lion In Wicked: For Good

Celebrity Race Across The World Cast 2025: Here's The Full Line-Up

Man jailed after launching homophobic attack on neighbours over ‘music’

Mysterious underground complex dubbed ‘Egypt’s Area 51’ revealed in unearthed photos

Tips on how to stay safe driving this winter after the clocks go back this weekend

British royals visit Vatican in historic step for churches and welcome respite from Epstein scandal

Scientists discover new species of flesh-eating dinosaur that once roamed Wales

Family of 60s icon Marianne Faithfull in £400k inheritance row sparked by ‘childhood grudge’

Hundreds of thousands of benefit cases to be checked for errors after ‘potentially catastrophic’ IT bug

LSEG sells stake in Post Trade Solutions to global banks

Locals get ready as tens of millions of red crabs begin annual odyssey across tiny island

Met Police to send drones to respond to 999 calls

France ‘may not intervene to reverse small boats in the Channel’ in blow to Starmer’s migration plan

Amid fundraising woes and rumors of a Democrat mutiny against him, John Fetterman slams Kamala Harris for calling Trump a ‘fascist’

Philippine victims of 2021 typhoon seek compensation from Shell

Wood burning fires in homes linked to 2,500 deaths a year in the UK, report says

Scientists fear volcano that was ‘extinct’ for 700,000 years has woken up as gas pressure builds

Annexing West Bank ‘would put Donald Trump’s Gaza plan at risk’, warns Marco Rubio

Indonesia defends decision to ban Israel gymnasts after IOC statement

Video: Suspect plants pipe bombs near DNC day before Capitol riots

Murder investigation launched after girl dies in village

Lloyds earnings slide by 36% after motor finance hit

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at Vatican ahead of historic meeting with Pope Leo

Trump to demolish entire East Wing of White House to make space for $300M ballroom: Latest

Will Trump’s new sanctions on Russian oil companies actually work to stop Putin?

Storm Benjamin: Flood alerts and travel chaos as 70mph winds batter UK

Belgium demands change in plan to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine

Why A Welsh Parliament By-Election Could Signal A Seismic Shift In UK Politics

The Latest Celebrity Traitors Round Table Had Everyone Shouting The Same Thing At The TV

Nobody Wants This Season 2 Reviews: Netflix Rom-Com Doesn't Get As Much Love Second Time Around

It’s not just you – an iPhone ‘bug’ is making you spell everything wrong

What are Donald Trump’s ‘tremendous’ new sanctions on Russia?

Remembrance Day poppy display in Barnsley set to go ahead after council row ‘resolved’

The Breakdown: The rise of Zack Polanski and his Green Party

Storm Benjamin hits land with 75mph winds and biblical downpours

Gluten allergies are actually rare and most people who think they have one are probably wrong, study finds

Unilever reveals stronger than expected sales ahead of ice cream spin-off

Pumpkin festival near Berlin features giant sculptures of powerful women, in photos

Two supermarkets triumph in annual Christmas food taste test

Flights cancelled as powerful storm prompts rare red warning in New Zealand

At a pumpkin festival near Berlin, powerful women take shape — one gourd at a time