Jess Phillips Resigns From Shadow Cabinet, Citing Labour's Stalled Progress on Child Safety

Jess Phillips MP has resigned from her role as Safeguarding Minister within Sir Keir Starmer's shadow cabinet, delivering a scathing critique of the Labour leadership's approach to policy implementation and its perceived lack of urgency on critical social issues.

In her resignation letter, Phillips lambasted what she described as incremental change and a reluctance to challenge powerful interests, highlighting a year-long struggle to secure a commitment on legislation to prevent children from generating self-taken nude images online. She stated, "I will never waste a crisis to make advancements for women and girls and so demands were made and some were met."

Phillips expressed frustration that proposed solutions, developed with civil service expertise, to combat 91% of online child sex abuse – which she identified as self-generated by groomed children – had been repeatedly delayed. She noted, "It has taken me a year to get you to agree to even threaten to legislate in this space. Not legislate, just threaten. This is the definition of incremental change. Nothing bold about it."

Concluding her letter, Phillips asserted, "I'm not sure we are grasping this rare opportunity with the gusto that's needed and I cannot keep waiting around for a crisis to push for faster progress." She affirmed her continued dedication to a Labour government's success but indicated an inability to serve as a minister under the current leadership given the perceived lack of tangible change.