Jess Phillips resigns – letter in full

Jess Phillips resigned as a Home Office minister, delivering a scathing letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer where she accused the government of moving too slowly on critical issues like Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). Phillips, a long-standing advocate for VAWG policies, argued that meaningful change often required crises to force action, and she refused to wait for another "catastrophic mistake" to push for progress. She highlighted stalled efforts to legislate against children taking self-generated nude images—a form of abuse where 91% of online child sex abuse material is self-produced by exploited children—despite existing technology to prevent it. The resignation comes amid growing frustration within Labour over delayed reforms, with Phillips noting that even threatening legislation took over a year to materialize. She criticized Starmer’s leadership for prioritizing consensus over bold action, stating that incremental change was insufficient for the scale of the crisis. Phillips wrote that while she believed Starmer cared about the right issues, his reluctance to confront challenges head-on was leaving victims unprotected. This marks the second ministerial resignation from Labour’s government since the 2026 local elections and devolved assembly elections, following Miatta Fahnbulleh’s departure earlier in the week. Phillips insisted she remained committed to Labour’s success but could no longer serve under the current leadership, calling for stronger political will to drive systemic change. Her letter emphasized that politics required not just policy debates but also emotional conviction to push through transformative reforms. The resignation underscores internal tensions within Labour, where some ministers appear dissatisfied with the pace of reform despite the party’s electoral gains. Phillips’ departure may pressure Starmer to accelerate stalled initiatives, particularly in areas like child safety and gender-based violence, where advocacy groups have long demanded urgent action. The government now faces scrutiny over its ability to balance political caution with the urgency of societal crises.