Jess Phillips Quits Starmer Cabinet, Citing 1 Year of Delays on Child Safety

13 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 12

Jess Phillips said she could not remain a minister under Keir Starmer, resigning as safeguarding minister over what she called stalled and delayed action on protecting women, girls and children.
In her resignation letter, Phillips said it took more than a year to get Starmer to agree even to threaten legislation to stop children taking naked images of themselves on phones and devices.
She argued the government favored incremental change over bold action, saying a promised announcement slipped from March to a possible June and blaming reluctance to confront tech bosses.
Phillips said 91% of online child sex abuse is self-generated by children who are groomed, tricked or exploited, framing the delay as a missed chance to use existing technology to curb abuse.
The resignation is also a broader rebuke of Starmer's leadership style, with Phillips saying decency and calm were not enough and that Labour was failing to seize a rare chance for faster change.

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