Jess Phillips is "in a bit of trouble" as the chaos surrounding the grooming gangs inquiry continues to escalate, a top Tory has claimed.
Speaking to GB News, Richard Fuller MP hit out at Labour councils for "turning a blind eye" to the scandal, and highlighted the mass exodus from the grooming gangs inquiry panel.
The Safeguarding Minister is facing backlash from survivors after claiming remarks made about the inquiry were "categorically untrue".
Speaking to GB News, Fiona Goddard said she was left "shocked and hurt" and accused Ms Phillips of "calling her a liar", following her own resignation from the inquiry's panel.
Richard Fuller has issued a bleak verdict for Jess Phillips amid Labour's fresh grooming gangs row
|GB NEWS
Delivering his verdict on the grooming gangs inquiry, Mr Fuller told GB News: "There were things that were done by the last Government, we did set up the task force, did do some arrests, did look after victims.
"But this is an issue which the political class for a decade or more has tried to look away from, and that's why I think it was right that Kemi [Badenoch] today asked all her questions about it."
He added: "And right at the core of this is not just the scepticism about it, I do think Jess Phillips is in a bit of trouble now."
Asked by host Gloria de Piero if Ms Phillips should resign, the Tory MP admitted: "I think the people on the panel are saying that she needs to go.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Keir Starmer faced a brutal grilling for the grooming gangs scandal during today's PMQs
| POOL"How many does it take to resign from the panel before she gets the message? I think that is why I think she has got a problem."
Taking aim at Labour councils, Mr Fuller claimed many local authorities had the "primary responsibility" in tackling grooming gangs over the last few decades.
He stated: "I'm afraid that the Labour Party in particular has a problem, because so many Labour councils were the ones who had the primary responsibility, and they're the ones that many people feel turned a blind eye."
Defending the work of Jess Phillips, Labour MP Samantha Niblett explained: "When it comes to the work that Jess has done, she has committed her life to supporting women that have been victims of this kind of horrific, horrific act, and my heart absolutely goes out to those victims and survivors.
"And I am not surprised, having watched PMQs with you, I am not surprised they don't trust the system. They have been let down time and time again by successive Governments."
Labour MP Samantha Niblett told GB News that Kemi Badenoch's attack on Keir Starmer was 'tasteless'
|GB NEWS
Admitting that the trust of survivors will not be gained unless Government "delivers results", she added: "Just to hear our Home Secretary, for instance, say we will keep it focused on grooming gangs, this inquiry, we will get to the bottom of it.
"They're not going to believe her, they're not going to believe her until they see the results for themselves."
Criticising Tory leader Kemi Badenoch for her "tasteless" attack on Sir Keir Starmer, she concluded: "One of the things that I'm finding a little bit tough to take watching Kemi attack the Prime Minister is it feels like she's making this a political hot potato.
"And that feels really tasteless because under the last Government, she didn't spend any time talking to any of the victims and survivors of grooming gangs, and suddenly now she is."