Foresight? Communications?

The indefatigable Jody McIntyre writes:

Jess Phillips is the Labour government minister responsible for tackling violence against women and girls. But local advocates in Birmingham claim that she has not spoken out about abusers from her own party. Here’s what they told me.

In 2024, Phillips said that Keir Starmer was “obsessed” with eliminating violence against women and girls. But yesterday, it was revealed that Starmer, whilst head of the CPS, implemented “warning letters to paedophiles” allegedly used “to make investigations go away”. Retired police officer turned whistleblower Maggie Oliver stated that she “worked on a case where we had identified 97 child abusers. That investigation should have led to serious charges...on an industrial scale.” Instead, suspects were given “child abduction warning notices”. Jack Alderton supplied Georgina Boxall with Class A drugs from the age of 15. He received two “warning notices” from police, but no grooming charges. Georgina’s mother, Susan, said: “Starmer has blood on his hands.” 

After being re-elected in 2024 with a majority of just 693 votes [over McIntyre], Phillips insisted that tackling VAWG was a “very firm part of the party’s five main missions for government”. She said that pressure on her to act was “none more so than from a man, and that is Keir Starmer.” Phillips has been consistent in her loyalty to Starmer since Labour’s rise to power. Last July, when Starmer suspended four Labour MPs for rebelling against the government on welfare cuts, Phillips said: “You can’t have everything you want.” Last week, it was revealed that the Labour government have continued to consult Brendan Cox, who was forced to resign from more than one charity in 2018 after claims of sexual misconduct. At the time, Phillips said that she was “disappointed” in her “friend”. Nevertheless, Phillips continued to defend and praise Cox in public. As whistleblower Leslie Francis wrote for openDemocracy: “What made Cox so dangerous was [not just] his power, but politicians, journalists, staff who kept quiet…out of fear of their careers.”

Ivor Caplin is another Labour figure who has publicly praised Phillips. Last January, Caplin was arrested for alleged sexual communication with a child. His Twitter account, full of explicit material, was still being followed by Labour frontbenchers. After quitting as a Labour MP, Caplin took two lobbying jobs at Foresight Communications and MBDA Missile Systems. Foresight was run by Mark Adams, a former aide to Tony Blair. In 2019, Adams was convicted of rape for a second time after forcing himself upon a 19-year-old woman.

Phillips was also surprisingly quiet on the appointment of the now disgraced Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador. Mandelson, a close acquaintance and “best pal” of notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, had his security vetting fast-tracked by the Starmer administration. One Labour MP who was eager to defend Mandelson’s appointment at the time was Wes Streeting. In 2020, Streeting endorsed Phillips for Labour leader and served as her campaign chair. Phillips raised £58k for her leadership campaign before dropping out of the race. Sam Gould, a former aide to Streeting, was convicted of exposing himself to a teenage girl and then following her last April. Streeting has previously described Epstein-associate Peter Mandelson as a “legend” and said that he should not be considered “guilty by association”.

In December, Starmer’s office defended the decision to nominate Matthew Doyle for a peerage, even though he had previously campaigned for ex-Scottish Labour councillor Sean Morton. In 2018, Morton was convicted of possessing indecent pictures of a 10-year-old girl. Before the 2024 general election, Starmer was warned that parliamentary candidate Dan Norris was facing legal action, but let him stand for Labour anyway. Earlier this month, Norris was arrested on further allegations of rape, sexual assault, and upskirting.

Another supporter of Phillips, John Woodcock, resigned from Labour while being investigated for sexual harassment. He described Mandelson’s appointment last year as “an inspired choice”. He was also instrumental in the proscription of Palestine Action, which Phillips voted for. In 2023, Tom Dewey plead guilty to charges of possessing five “category A” indecent images of children. Six days after his arrest, Dewey was re-elected as a Labour councillor. Three councillors who demanded an inquiry were “deselected by Labour HQ”.

Before the 2024 election, Jess Phillips made a big deal about “resigning over Gaza”. Locals tell me she sent leaflets to every Muslim household in the constituency highlighting her achievements on the issue. Why has she not stepped down over the Labour Party paedophile crisis?