A decade ago, I all but slobbered over Jess Phillips in an article titled “Lunch with the future leader of the Labour Party” — apparently with my better judgement as an amuse-bouche. In the years since, the Safeguarding Minister has proved that assessment rather silly, culminating this week in the news that four survivors of the grooming gangs have resigned from an inquiry into the horrific crimes inflicted on young girls over several decades. All of them, as well as a fifth who is remaining part of the inquiry, have called on Phillips to quit over her “betrayal” of victims.

Keir Starmer has expressed “confidence” in Phillips, arguing that she has “more experience than probably any other person in this House in dealing with violence against women and girls”. But whenever the PM publicly backs one of his ministers, it’s usually a sign they’ll soon be gone. This may similarly be the kiss of death for Phillips, compounding her own rather braggadocious response to the accusations of “gaslighting” the girls she is meant to protect.

Phillips’s bolshiness has often been presented as a strength, but she appears increasingly obstinate in the face of criticism. Resigning from the inquiry this week, survivor Fiona Goddard highlighted “the secretive conduct and conditions imposed” on victims due to testify, which led to a “toxic, fearful environment” and resulted in “people feeling silenced all over again”. In a letter to the Home Affairs Select Committee, Phillips dismissed as “untrue” the suggestion that “the government is seeking to dilute the focus of the inquiry”. Despite presenting herself as one of the most vocal parliamentary supporters of women, the Safeguarding Minister has increasingly come to resemble just another hectoring, middle-class Labour politician who obviously knows better than these flighty working-class girls.

There is likely another reason for Phillips’s apparent contempt for victims, however: a fear of Muslim opposition. At last year’s general election, her lead in Birmingham Yardley was cut from over 10,000 to under 700 votes thanks to pressure from a pro-Gaza Workers’ Party candidate. She alleged that his supporters harassed her over the course of the campaign, and looked scared out of her wits as she was heckled with cries of “Free Palestine” during her victory speech.

In a 2019 interview with Stylist magazine, Phillips said of the various threats she had received: “Fear and hatred can be the things that drive you. I don’t always think of fear as a bad thing, it gives you fight-or-flight.” I think we can safely say that she is in the “flight” stage right now. The irony is that she too has been threatened by Muslim men; unlike the survivors, with all her advantages, she does not appear to have the guts to stand up to them. Her “safeguarding” title now seems like satire, with victims accusing her of “a betrayal that has destroyed what little trust remained”. According to Fiona Goddard, the inquiry was always “a box-ticking exercise […] we have been failed, over and over again.”

Labour politicians have consistently played down the horror of the grooming gangs, with Lucy Powell — now running for the party’s deputy leadership — dismissing it as a “dog whistle” issue. In January, Starmer himself accused those calling for an inquiry of “jumping on a bandwagon” led by the “far-Right”. Clearly, the Government wishes these atrocities had never come to light. Phillips will probably end up as a sacrifice, as Labour women frequently are. That’s a shame, as I still think she’d make a good leader of the party. But I probably don’t mean that as a compliment any more.

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Julie Burchill is a journalist, playwright and author of Welcome to the Woke Trials, available now. Her latest play, Awful People, co-written with Daniel Raven, comes to Brighton Pier in September 2023.

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