All survivors who have resigned from the government’s grooming gangs inquiry panel will consider returning if safeguarding minister Jess Phillips resigns.
The four women who have resigned this week have written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, calling for Ms Phillips to step down and all survivors to be consulted on appointing a senior judge as chair with no major conflicts of interest.
Ms Phillips told parliament on Tuesday suggestions the scope of the inquiry was to be expanded from just grooming gangs were “categorically untrue”.
But leaked consultation documents and texts between the safeguarding minister and survivor Fiona Goddard show the survivors’ concerns that the scope would be expanded were valid.
The survivors’ letter says: “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 ‘unfit’ to oversee process
The survivors have demanded the scope of the inquiry remain “laser-focused” on grooming gangs and called for victims to be free to speak to support networks without fear of reprisal.
An independent mental health professional should replace the current victim liaison lead, they also wrote.
The letter to Ms Mahmood says: “Her [Ms Phillips’] 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.”
The survivors describe their demands as “the absolute bare minimum for survivors to trust that this inquiry will be different from every other process that has let us down”.
Sky News has approached the Home Office for a comment on the victims’ letter.
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