Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has promised that Labour will remain "laser focused" on grooming gangs after Chris Philp demanded a statement from her in an urgent question in the Commons.
The comments come after Fiona Goddard and Ellie Reynolds, both survivors of grooming gangs, announced yesterday that they were resigning as advisers amid concerns that Sir Keir Starmer’s Government was not listening to victims.
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Chris Philp asked the minister to "appoint a judge" to lead the inquiry after the recent criticism.
The Shadow Home Secretary said: "This scandal arose because young, mainly white, girls were systematically gang raped and this was covered up by those in authority because the perpetrators were mainly of Pakistani origin.
Chris Philp demanded a statement in an urgent question today
|House of Commons
"This makes it all the more shocking that when calls for a national inquiry became public in January, the Prime Minister smeared campaigners of jumping on a far-right bandwagon.
"Comments like that are a disgrace, and are what lead to a scandal like this being covered up in the first place."
Mr Philp pointed to the resignations of two victims from the Home Office’s survivor liaison panel, Fiona Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds, who both quit in protest over how the inquiry was being handled.
Quoting Ms Goddard, Mr Philp said survivors were being treated with “secretive conduct and conditions” that had created “a toxic and fearful environment”.
He added that Ms Reynolds accused ministers of widening the inquiry’s remit to “downplay the racial and religious motivations” behind the abuse.
Finally, he read Ms Goddard’s statement to MPs: “I won’t be gagged and controlled by the Government while they turn this inquiry into a cover-up.”
Mr Philp concluded by calling on the Minister to “apologise to Fiona and to Ellie-Ann” and “restore faith” in the inquiry.
Ms Phillips said: “Suggesting that the Government has silenced anybody is incorrect. The Government has not handled this process it has been managed by a grooming gang charity, as he himself cited, which represents victims of crime."
She said not all victims shared the same views, warning against portraying survivors as a “homogenous group”.
“They are not one group of people who all think the same thing, who all want the same exposure, or who all want their identities known,” she told MPs.
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The Minister confirmed she has spoken “many times” with Fiona Goddard, who resigned from the panel earlier this week, and would continue that relationship “should she wish”.
Ms Phillips also pushed back on calls for a judicial-led inquiry, noting that Baroness Casey had explicitly told the Home Affairs Select Committee she “did not want” a traditional judge-led process.
She said: “If anyone in this House can find me an institution that didn’t fail these girls over the years, including our courts, which took children away from victims of grooming gangs and even criminalised some of them, I would be very surprised.
"There is no institution in this country that hasn’t failed.”
Jess Phillips faced a grilling over the inquiry
|House of Commons
Ms Phillips added that she would meet with “many victims” to hear their feedback and continue to engage with all survivors “regardless of their opinions”.
“I will always listen,” she said, “whether they have spoken to the media or sit on advisory panels.”
She added: "The Government remains resolute in delivering Baroness Casey's recommendations following her national audit into group based child sexual exploitation and abuse.
"These crimes, committed by grooming gangs are among the most horrific imaginable, and her report exposed over a decade of institutional inaction, and we are determined to ensure such failures are never repeated."
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