Starmer stands by Jess Phillips as grooming gang survivor threatens to sue minister
Keir Starmer is standing by embattled safeguarding minister Jess Phillips despite one of the women who quit her role in the national probe into grooming gangs threatening to sue her.
On Friday, lawyers acting for Fiona Goddard warned Ms Phillips in a letter about comments she made about their client and two other victims who left the panel into the grooming ring investigation.
The group has previously called for Ms Phillips to resign, saying she accused her of lying in a letter to Dame Karen Bradley, chair of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, and denied the government was “trying to dilute the focus of the investigation”.
Ms Goddard’s lawyers, Switalskis, said the dilution suggestion was “not clearly false” and that Ms Phillips’s letter was “defamatory” by suggesting their client was lying.
They also referred to a text message conversation in which Ms Goddard raised concerns about an item on the agenda of a meeting with survivors and asked whether the inquiry should take a “broader approach” rather than focusing on “reforming gangs”.
They said Ms Phillips replied: “I know it’s hard to trust, but I guarantee you no one is trying to manipulate the answer and in my view it’s just the work of a grooming gang.” [sic] “It is a specific investigation, but it would not be right for me to make this decision without formal consultation.”
Ms Goddard said she had been “harassed and vilified online” as a result of Ms Phillips’ statement.
The lawyers concluded: “Ms. Goddard will accept a written apology from Ms. Phillips to put an end to this matter.”
Ms Phillips said claims that the scope of the investigation had been broadened and watered down were “incorrect”.
The planned investigation was thrown into chaos this week and the last candidate to lead the inquiry, child abuse expert Jim Gamble, who heads the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) police command, withdrew amid public anger and victims’ opposition to his appointment.
But Downing Street pointed to a statement by the prime minister this week in which he gave Ms Phillips a vote of confidence to remain the minister in charge.
He was previously the only member of the Home Office’s original team of ministers to survive the reshuffle, although he was most under pressure to be sacked due to his initial reluctance to carry out an investigation into gangs.
On Wednesday, when Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch cited victims’ demands for Ms Phillips to resign or be sacked, Sir Keir responded: “I respect the views of all the survivors and there are different views – I accept that – but I think the protection minister has more experience of tackling violence against women and girls than anyone else in this House and he will have Louise Casey alongside him.
“These two individuals have stood up for those who have been abused and sexually abused for decades, and I absolutely think they are the right people to take this forward.”
He also insisted that the investigation would not be watered down. He told MPs that victims who resign from the panel can return at any time.
He said: “I accept that some members, including Fiona, have decided to leave the panel in recent days. “The door will always be open if they wish to return, but even if they do not we owe it to them, to Fiona and to the country to respond to the concerns they have raised.
“The investigation will not and never will be watered down; its scope will not change, it will examine the ethnicity and religion of the criminals and we will find the right person to head the investigation.”
Meanwhile, Birmingham MP Preet Kaur Gill, a former social worker who worked in child protection before Ms Phillips was elected in 2017, also entered the debate and warned against broadening the focus of the investigation.
He said: “While all forms of child sexual abuse require urgent intervention, Casey’s audit made clear that this organised, group-based form of exploitation exposed unique institutional failings that had not been addressed in previous investigations.
“Expanding the scope risks losing the focus that Casey accurately describes.
“Despite repeated warnings, systems are needed to account for their role in allowing organized grooming and exploitation to continue.”
