Home Office minister Jess Phillips has been accused of “desperately embarrassing” herself after repeating controversial comments linking Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to Jimmy Savile over his opposition to the Online Safety Act.
The Birmingham Yardley MP doubled down on last week’s inflammatory rhetoric in a Times article, defending Technology Secretary Peter Kyle’s assertion that Mr Farage was “siding with modern-day Jimmy Saviles preying on children online” by opposing the legislation.
Phillips wrote: “If you’ve been living under a rock, you may have missed last week’s row about Nigel Farage and the Online Safety Act. Farage said it’s the biggest threat to freedom of speech in our lifetimes. My colleague Peter Kyle said he was siding with modern-day Jimmy Saviles preying on children online”.
The minister, responsible for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, accused the Clacton MP of being more concerned about “clicks for his monetised social media accounts” than protecting children from online predators.
Reform Hits Back Over Grooming Gangs
A Reform UK source launched a scathing counterattack, highlighting Labour’s initial resistance to calls for a national grooming gangs inquiry until Baroness Casey’s damning report forced a government U-turn.
“Once again we see Labour desperately embarrass themselves with idiotic statements that will never pass the smell test,” the insider said. This is the Government who refused time and time again to order a national inquiry into the grooming gangs and have had to suspend the whip from an MP for allegations of the most horrific crimes against children.
The source was referencing Labour’s months-long refusal to launch a national inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation, only reversing course in June after Baroness Casey’s audit recommended it. The report found that white British girls targeted by grooming gangs, predominantly of Pakistani origin, were “institutionally ignored for fear of racism.
Online Safety Act Controversy
The row centres on the Online Safety Act, which came into full effect on 25 July 2025, requiring websites and apps to implement robust age verification measures to prevent children accessing harmful content. Platforms face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global turnover for non-compliance.
Mr Farage has pledged to repeal the legislation if Reform UK comes to power, calling it “the biggest threat to freedom of speech in our lifetimes. The Act has drawn criticism from various quarters, including left-wing commentators and social media platforms, over concerns about privacy and free speech implications.
Under the new rules, platforms like Reddit, Discord, and various dating apps now require users to submit government-issued ID or facial recognition to access certain content. Simple self-declaration of age is no longer acceptable under Ofcom’s enforcement guidelines.
Phillips Cites McCartney Case
In her Times piece, Phillips invoked the case of Alexander McCartney, the Northern Ireland online predator sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum 20-year term for abusing at least 70 children online and causing the death of 12-year-old Cimarron Thomas.
“I defy Nigel Farage to tell me what any of that has to do with free speech,” Phillips wrote. “I defy him to meet even one parent who has lost a daughter to suicide because she was being blackmailed online and tell them that is just the price of civil liberties”.
McCartney, described as “the UK’s largest catfishing case”, posed as a teenage girl to befriend young females on Snapchat before blackmailing them. Police believe he targeted approximately 3,500 victims worldwide between 2013 and 2019.
Grooming Gangs Inquiry U-Turn
Labour’s credibility on child protection has been questioned following their dramatic U-turn on grooming gangs. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer only agreed to a national inquiry in June after Baroness Casey’s report left him “no choice”, according to critics.
The Casey Report revealed decades of institutional failure to protect children from sexual exploitation, with authorities shying away from examining ethnicity “for fear of appearing racist”. The audit found evidence of “over-representation” of Asian and Pakistani heritage men among suspects in local data.
Reform sources pointed out that Labour-controlled councils in Rotherham, Telford, and Manchester had overseen some of the worst failures in protecting children from grooming gangs. Telford’s current Labour MP, Shaun Davies, initially rejected calls for an inquiry when he was council leader in 2016.
Political Fallout
Following last week’s spat, Mr Farage demanded an apology from Kyle before taking aim at Sir Keir Starmer for his failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile whilst heading the Crown Prosecution Service.
Technology Secretary Kyle refused to withdraw his remarks, insisting: “If you’re against the Online Safety Act and want to overturn it you are on the side of predators and paedophiles. Nigel Farage is therefore on the side of predators and paedophiles and he needs to be called out for it”.
Former Reform Party Chairman Zia Yusuf described Kyle’s original comments as “one of the most outrageous and disgusting things a politician has said in the political arena”, adding that talking about Savile “does nothing other than denigrate the victims of Jimmy Savile.
Wider Concerns
Over 400,000 people have signed a petition opposing the Online Safety Act, with concerns raised about overly cautious content filtering. Users on X have reported being unable to watch political content, including videos of anti-migrant protests or parliamentary speeches on grooming gangs.
Critics worry that tech companies will censor content they consider hate speech, whilst privacy advocates argue the infrastructure being built represents a shift toward “surveillance-by-default”.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has warned that whilst the Act aims to protect children, it could make them less safe online by driving harmful behaviour underground and limiting access to legitimate information.
As the row continues, Phillips’ decision to redeploy the Savile comparison has reignited debate about Labour’s own record on child protection and whether inflammatory rhetoric helps or hinders efforts to keep children safe online.
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