Hypocrite Phillips just another enemy of women in reality

A CABINET minister has been forced to apologise for the Government’s botched handling of the national grooming gangs inquiry. Four survivors have now walked away, fearing the probe is being quietly diluted to include other forms of child sexual abuse. But the person who really owes an apology is the woman leading it: Jess Phillips.

- Esther Krakue Daily Express Columnist

Yes, that Jess Phillips: Labour's straight-talking, no-nonsense Brummie, unafraid to spell out what others are too timid to say a self-styled champion of women and girls.

For years, she built a reputation as Westminster’s conscience on violence against women - as a politician who actually cared. Yet here she is, accused of misleading Parliament and publicly undermining one of the women she was supposed to protect. The irony stinks to high heaven.

The inquiry, meant to shine a light on decades of institutional failure, is instead exposing a newer kind of moral rot. And it’s one dressed up in the language of progress. Phillips, the patron saint of “believe women”, is now presiding over an inquiry that’s done the exact opposite. And the tragedy is that I once believed her.

I thought her passion for women’s safety was genuine. But, as ever, conviction in Labour’s moral order comes with an asterisk. It’s easy to believe all women, until the women in question are working-class, white, northern and brutalised by Pakistani-heritage grooming gangs. Suddenly, the slogans lose their sparkle.