‘You’ve let down survivors!’ Badenoch savages Phillips in explosive GB News interview as political row turns deeply personal
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has unleashed a blistering personal attack on Jess Phillips, dramatically branding her the “worst Safeguarding Minister we have ever had” in an explosive escalation of the grooming gangs inquiry row.
In a fiery interview with GB News today, Badenoch shot down Phillips’s claims that the Tories “never cared” about rape gangs, accusing the Labour minister of failing victims and survivors in a confrontation that has turned increasingly bitter.
The extraordinary attack marks a new low in relations between the two parties as the debate over how to tackle Britain’s grooming gangs scandal descends into acrimony.
‘SIT DOWN AND LOOK AT YOUR FAILURES’
Speaking to GB News’s Charlie Peters, Badenoch didn’t hold back as she delivered a withering assessment of Phillips’s record.
Jess Phillips is the worst safeguarding minister we have ever had,” Badenoch declared, her voice dripping with contempt.
“I spoke about this issue during the leadership contest. I stood on a stage and I made the point about this being something that I was going to campaign on long before all of the furore that we saw this year.”
In a devastating put-down, Badenoch added: “I’m not taking any lectures from Jess Phillips. She needs to go sit down and look at how she has let down quite a lot of people, including survivors, who told me today that she let them down.”
PHILLIPS FIRES BACK
The Labour minister has hit back hard, accusing Badenoch and shadow home secretary Chris Philp of only taking an interest in the issue because of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s intervention.
In her own explosive performance, Phillips claimed the Conservative leader had “never met or made plans to meet any of the victims” when she made her demand for an inquiry in January.
She also revealed that Philp “had not held a single meeting on the subject in his two years as minister for crime, policing and fire.
LABOUR MP’S EMOTIONAL DEFENCE
In a dramatic twist, Labour MP Natalie Fleet – who revealed she was groomed and raped as a teenager – launched a fierce defence of Phillips against Badenoch’s attacks.
Fleet, who became pregnant at 15 after being groomed by an older man, expressed fury at the Conservative leader’s criticism.
“She fought for me when I was groomed!” Fleet declared, revealing that Phillips had been instrumental in helping her overcome her traumatic past and enter Parliament.
The Bolsover MP told how she still suffers “weekly nightmares” about what happened to her 23 years ago.
TORY RECORD DEFENDED
During the heated GB News interview, Badenoch vigorously defended the Conservative Party’s record on tackling grooming gangs.
“This was something that I cared about even in Government. I knew what was going on with the gangs task force, for instance, that happened while I was in cabinet,” she insisted.
She cited the work of former Conservative ministers, saying: “Colleagues of mine, from Theresa May to Sajid Javid to Suella Braverman, had taken a lot of time and did a lot of work, and it still wasn’t enough.
SCALE OF HORROR REVEALED
Badenoch highlighted the shocking extent of the abuse, citing Baroness Casey’s report which revealed the true scale of rape gangs operating across Britain.
“The scale of it has really only come to light. We thought it was just a couple of towns here or there, but it is 50 towns,” she explained.
The Conservative leader praised her party’s role in pressuring Sir Keir Starmer’s government to act, claiming the Tories “did its job as opposition.
“It is very important to remind people that this did not happen easily. A lot of pressure was put on the Government,” she said.
INQUIRY ROW DEEPENS
The personal attacks come amid ongoing controversy over Labour’s handling of demands for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
Phillips initially rejected Oldham Council’s request for an independent public inquiry into historic child abuse, favouring locally-run inquiries instead.
This decision sparked fury from Musk, who posted that Phillips “deserves to be in prison” – comments that led to the minister being assigned close protection officers.
POLITICAL FALLOUT
The increasingly personal nature of the attacks has shocked Westminster observers, with sources suggesting the row could damage both parties.
Labour has accused Badenoch of “point-scoring” on a sensitive issue, while Conservatives claim the government is trying to avoid scrutiny.
The bitter exchanges show no sign of abating, with both sides digging in as pressure mounts for comprehensive action on the grooming gangs scandal.
