Five survivors invited on to the child sexual exploitation inquiry panel have written to Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood to say they will continue working with the investigation only if the safeguarding minister Jess Phillips remains in post.
The women have contacted the prime minister and home secretary outlining a range of conditions for their continued participation. They say Phillips has “devoted her life to hearing and amplifying the voices of women and girls who would have otherwise been unheard”.
One of the group, Samantha Walker-Roberts, who was abused in Oldham from the age of 12, has chosen to waive her right to anonymity. The other five have used pseudonyms and call themselves “Scarlett”, “Caitlin”, “Claire” and “Katie”.
The women say they want the inquiry to cover all types of sexual exploitation, including grooming gangs, and that “anyone who believes their evidence should be included” should have the chance to participate.
They said they believed Phillips had “remained impartial” and they want her to “remain in position for the duration of the process for consistency”.
They say: “She has offered some of us support prior to this process, helped survivors access services and help they would not have had without her. In consultation, we have asked for the scope to be larger than just grooming gangs, that was our right to input our opinions, which is the purpose of the panel.
“When asked directly in the feedback session, Jess was clear that the focus would be on grooming gangs, however survivors in the group explained that they would be excluded for not fitting the generalised stereotype of what that is and should focus on CSE [child sexual exploitation].”
This week, four other members of the panel resigned, saying they felt the government was manipulating them to expand the scope of the inquiry to include other forms of abuse and exploitation. They said on Wednesday they would only return if Phillips resigned from government and the inquiry was chaired by a leading lawyer.
