A grooming gangs survivor has launched a blistering attack on Jess Phillips, declaring the Safeguarding Minister "unfit for her role" and saying her handling of the situation has been "disgusting".
Speaking to GB News, Ellie-Ann Reynolds tore into the handling of the Government inquiry into the scandal, branding Mrs Phillips "embarrassing".
Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, the Safeguarding Minister blamed "misinformation" for "undermining the process" of the inquiry.
Mrs Phillips told MPs: "We must avoid delays, as was seen in the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, and are progressing as swiftly as thoroughness allows. Misinformation undermines this process.
Grooming gangs survivor Ellie-Ann Reynolds hit out at Jess Phillips for her 'disgusting' behaviour towards the inquiry
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PARLIAMENT TV / GB NEWS
"Allegations of intentional delay, lack of interest or widening of the inquiry scope and dilution are false. The inquiry will remain laser-focused on grooming gangs as Baroness Casey recommended."
Responding to Ms Phillips's remarks, Ms Reynolds told GB News: "I think when the former employment statuses were as they were, how did they expect any survivor to sit on that panel and be confident that the inquiry was going to succeed with former police officers and social workers?
"They are the very institutions that have failed us for many, many years."
Highlighting the "toxic, isolating and depressing" atmosphere survivors experienced in the lead up to the inquiry getting started, Ms Reynolds claimed they were entered into a "very controlled environment".
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Jess Phillips told the House of Commons that 'misinformation' is 'undermining' the inquiry
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She explained: "It was a very controlled environment, we had to draft questions and submit them 24 hours before. We were given bullet points of what we should be asking and when we should be asking it, and we had to sit and think of our answers 24 hours prior. We were just given lists all the time.
"And we were told that we weren't allowed to seek support from any of the survivors on the panel, our own families and friends, we weren't allowed to talk about it when the documents were actually sent over, and that included the candidates for the chair. It was very password protected and secretive."
She added: "You're not allowed to take photos, you're not allowed to to share this information, it was all just so secretive.
"It became unsafe, and it became dangerous in that sense. Because why were they tiptoeing around something that should have been public knowledge?"
Ms Reynolds told GB News that the environment survivors were exposed to was 'toxic and secretive'
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Asked by host Nigel Farage if she believes Jess Phillips is "unfit" in her role as Safeguarding Minister, Ms Reynolds agreed.
Ms Reynolds told GB News: "I think she's unfit for the role. I think the way that she conducted herself yesterday in the House of Commons was embarrassing, it was disgusting.
"She showed a lot of anger and aggressive behaviour towards the survivors, and my question is, are you angry because you were caught out in a cover up that's no longer successful?"
She concluded: "We've exposed that, because I don't think that she's angry at everything else that's going on. I think that she's embarrassed herself, and I think that the way that she's held herself, people need to question if she's the right person that liaises with survivors.