Secretary of State for the Home Department Jess Phillips has promised that Labour will remain ‘laser focused’ on grooming gangs after Chris Philp demanded an 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.
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.
“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.”