Jess Phillips
MP for Birmingham Yardley · Labour · United Kingdom
“I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Filton and Bradley Stoke (Claire Hazelgrove). Mainly because I am a bit lazy, I rarely prepare to speak in debates, and never have copious notes. Her remarks have led where my remarks will go. I will cover the issue of coercion, which hon.”
“Then, when it came to the point that a doctor made the call and said, “Your mom is about to die,” my brother could not come back—this was about four weeks later. So it was me who was with my mom when she died—not all of her children, and not all of her grandchildren. I am eternally grateful that I was there.”
“She was doubly incontinent by this point. To give hon. Members an idea of the kind of woman my mother was, she was an absolute titan. She was like Erin Brockovich, but with a bad perm, in the 1980s. She could lay claim to being able to spot talent, because she gave a job to the current Prime Minister, who worked for her for some time.”
“She did not die in terrible pain—I recognise what my hon. Friend the Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton) is saying. She was not writhing. It was not awful. However, she should have been able to choose to have her family with her. I will vote for this Bill.”
“Suicide currently outstrips homicide as the main reason for the deaths of women in cases of domestic abuse and coercive control, so what the right hon. Gentleman outlines is currently happening. Arguing for the status quo is not something I feel comfortable with.”
“It is very good to hear the Minister commit to checking whether guidance is enough. Many of us who have tried to rehouse victims of domestic abuse, even after great laws have been written into legislation in this place, will know that getting them the priority need status under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 still takes a huge amount of advo…”
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“Far be it from me to make policy and commissioning decisions for the council in my hon. Friend’s area—although I would quite like to just say yes to her. Absolutely, there is extra money coming from this Government that can be used to expand refuge provision, and I am sure she will take the recommendations to her local council and push for what sounds like a much-needed refuge in Scarborough.”
“Throughout the building of the strategy, we have worked very closely with the Metropolitan police and police forces across the country. It would be pointless for me to put something in writing that could not be delivered. I understand the angle the hon. Member is coming from and the commitments in the strategy will be costed, but it is not for me to say what police funding will be next year. The violence against women and girls strategy is not the place for that.”
“I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that guarantee. For too long women have had to take all of the responsibility in this area, and frankly they have done most of the labour for free—whether they are victims or not. It is important to include men, because the labour needs to be shared. We also cannot arrest our way out of a volume crime like this, which is growing among younger people. We have to look at what interventions we are putting in place for men and boys to make sure that they do not suffer from this as well—not just as victims but as perpetrators, because it is a suffering life to be a perpetrator.”
“The strategy, like much of the work, applies to England and Wales, but I have met my counterparts in Scotland on a number of occasions to ensure that we are working together. Some areas of this issue are to do with immigration and parts of welfare, which are not devolved. I have also met lots of Scottish organisations, and we will continue to make sure that there is synthesis and learning from both sides.”
“The hon. Lady makes a very good point. When I say that the strategy has to be for everybody, I truly mean that. It has to be for employers as well. It is for businesses, charities—everybody in society. The hon. Lady is right to raise the point about employers. Thinking back to Rachel Williams, whose case has been cited, she was at work when she was harmed. There is a huge job of work for employers to do, and I urge the hon. Lady to wait for the strategy.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that reminder of those failures; we absolutely have to change that this time. I can pay no greater credit than to say that the person who has done the vast majority of the work in ensuring other Government Departments come to the table—much as everybody gets to see my passion and I am quite bombastic—is the Prime Minister, who has been my greatest ally in that.”
“I will not be drawn on what the strategy says, but that is currently the case. This year, the Government have increased the funding to the migrant victims fund, which is exactly for people who do not have access to public funds, to ensure that they can get refuge accommodation. Migrant victims currently have access to support regardless of their status.”
“I shall ring the football clubs of Birmingham later today to ensure that they are as well. I pay tribute to all our caseworkers, because they are on the frontline of the cases we see and the reasons why any of us stand up in the Chamber to look out for people. They go under-heard. Every single line in the strategy will have come directly from a victim, or a family of a victim, who came in to see somebody in this House and spoke up for that.”
“I was in Woking looking at the multi-agency services offered there, and I have to say that I was incredibly impressed by what is on offer in Surrey, both for victims who wish to go through the criminal justice system and those who do not. While I would much prefer it if that figure was less adrift, we must ensure that we do not just focus on criminal justice outcomes as lots of women will want other outcomes.”
“Absolutely. We cannot just end the presumption of contact on its own because perpetrators will often just find a new tactic. We have to ensure that our family courts are fit for purpose and will keep the children, and the non-abusive parents, in our country safe.”
“I only wish there was a high prevalence area in the country that I could target with all the interventions, but this is something that exists in every single part of the country. There is no one place that is worse for it than others, but I absolutely guarantee that on Thursday the hon. Member will see that the violence against women and girls strategy seeks to improve the situation for his concerned constituent.”
“The Home Secretary was on television talking about the Home Office’s plans with regard to the centre for violence against women and girls, the expansion of V100—a Metropolitan police data source targeting the most violent offenders—and the biggest-ever investment, £53 million, in perpetrator programmes to tackle high-risk-of-harm perpetrators.”
“As the hon. Member’s constituency borders mine, I am afraid that we see many of the same problems. The inadequacy of some of the temporary accommodation in Birmingham is not something I would ever defend. What he is seeing, therefore, does not surprise me. Safe accommodation for victims of domestic abuse is part of the strategy, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has already said today that we will be increasing the funding to local councils so that those victims can have access to housing.”
“While the strategy that will be announced on Thursday is for England and Wales and is devolved, I take a very personal interest in the safety and security of women in every one of the UK nations and, of course, in Northern Ireland, where the statistics on murder and femicide are there for everyone to see. I will continue to work to ensure—in response to the point made by the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers)—that we do more of what works and get rid of what does not. But we will have to invent and do things that people have not tried before, because around the world, not enough have cared. I will ensure that any learning is shared with our counterparts.”
“As someone who has spent their working life trying to secure real lasting change, I know it will not be easy, but in honour of the victims and their families, and for the sake of women and girls across England and Wales, we must succeed. This Government will not stop until we have. I commend the statement to the House.”
“As the inquiry’s report highlights, we cannot address entrenched issues in isolation. We must draw on all of society and I place emphasis on this being a truly cross-Government strategy. Prevention is fundamental to our approach, alongside strengthening our response to target perpetrators and stop them causing harm. Having lived and breathed its development over several months, I am as eager as everyone else to get it out there. It will undoubtedly answer some of the issues raised in this important report. It is on its way very soon and I am confident that it will live up to expectations. As Lady Elish highlights, too little has been done to deliver consistent protections for women and girls, and progress has fallen short. We find ourselves at a moment of reckoning.”
“They were both highlighted in Lady Angiolini’s report. We are also clear that those who commit these heinous crimes have absolutely no place in policing. To address that, and to help fulfil recommendations from part 1 of the inquiry, we are putting police vetting standards on a statutory footing, which will enable forces to exclude those with a caution or conviction for VAWG offences from policing. We are also strengthening requirements on forces to suspend officers under investigation for these crimes. I know there is a great deal of interest in our upcoming VAWG strategy. I was in No. 10 with the Prime Minister and stakeholders working on it today. It will deliver a bold step change in how we, as a Government and a society, address VAWG over the next decade.”
“The House will also be aware of our landmark commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, which will require us to address the root causes of abuse and violence to prevent offending and relentlessly pursue those who perpetrate these appalling crimes. Since the general election, we have played a more active role to ensure that women and girls receive more consistent protection from policing. We have provided £13.1 million to deliver a more co-ordinated approach and national leadership to drive up investigative and operational standards through the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection. The new centre is ensuring that expertise, including from programmes such as Operation Soteria and Project Vigilant, is put into practice in forces across the country.”
“It acknowledges that there is a range of ongoing work which seeks to prevent these terrible crimes and disrupt predators, but it also highlights that there is no quick fix and demands a more consistent approach across the whole of society to address and prevent this violence. At this point, I would like to place on record my heartfelt thanks to Lady Elish and her team for their work. They have approached, and continue to approach, their task with skill, sensitivity and determination. Today’s publication underlines why it is so vital that every agency and every sector does more to protect women from harm. This Government are resolute: the fact that women do not feel safe going about their everyday lives is a national emergency.”
“The report starkly highlights that many women do not feel safe due to the actions and behaviours of predatory men, and that they are assuming the burden of their own protection themselves through avoidance measures such as not going out at night, avoiding dark streets and modifying their use of public transport. This is, as we all know, utterly unacceptable. As the inquiry chair, Lady Elish Angiolini, puts it so clearly in the report: “Somehow, we have simply come to accept that many women do not feel safe walking in their streets.” This is a substantial and significant report, and I urge all Members to read it in full.”
“Today, I am thinking of Sarah, of the years denied to her and of her loved ones. They are all in our hearts, as are the other victims of violence against women and girls who have lost their lives. As the Justice Secretary said, I have been with some of them this morning and we hold them—I am sure I speak for the whole House—very closely in our hearts. Part 1 of the Angiolini inquiry focused on the career and conduct of Sarah’s killer, while part 2 was commissioned to examine broader issues in relation to policing and the safety of women. The first of two reports that will make up part 2 of the inquiry has been laid before the House and published today. It examines what more can be done to prevent sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces.”
“With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the Angiolini inquiry. I cannot begin anywhere else than with acknowledging the abhorrent crime that led to the establishment of this important inquiry in the first place. Sarah Everard’s murder by a serving police officer was a betrayal of trust so wretched that it defies belief. None of us will ever forget the collective sense of sorrow, outrage and revulsion that swept across the country in the aftermath. There were far-reaching implications for policing and the public’s confidence in those who are meant to serve and protect our communities. Let us always remember that this began with a young woman losing her life: a beloved daughter, sister and friend gone because of an act of pure evil.”
“We also need fundamental reform with regard to policing and standards, so that we do not end up with a postcode lottery across our country. The Home Secretary has already announced some reforms around police and crime commissioners, but broader policing reforms will be coming in the new year, for the exact reason that Lady Elish outlines, which is the postcode lottery across police forces. How confident am I? I am always confident that we will undertake as much as possible. That will never be as fast as I or anyone would like it to be, because this is hard work, and we cannot just change things for good announcements. We have to change the culture, and that is going to take a lot.”
“The Government have said that they are going to halve violence against women and girls within a decade—the first time that any Government have tried to put any numbers on it—and we cannot have numbers unless we have a lot of data, so looking at data will be very important. The hon. Gentleman highlights the issue, which Lady Elish herself talks about, that progress has not been fast enough. The recommendations for the Government in the previous report are being undertaken, but a clear issue throughout the report is the nature of the 43 police forces, as everybody will see when they read it. One of the reasons for having the new national centre for violence against women and girls is to try and do something about that.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his tone and his genuinely constructive questioning. The first thing to say is that, absolutely, Operation Soteria started under the previous Government—I worked on it alongside Ministers, as well as police forces, at the time—and in that spirit, I always welcome such cross-party working. It seems that Operation Soteria has been a game changer, as Lady Elish’s review certainly highlights. The review also states that it needs to be on a consistent footing, so we very much hope that putting it in the new centre will provide consistent footing to the very good work started under the previous Government, which I absolutely give them credit for. On the issue of data, the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. What data we measure and how data needs to be improved will absolutely be part of the strategy.”
“Only 10% of victims of violence against women and girls ever talk to the police, so that in and of itself would never be a good measure. Of course, I want to see rates increasing, but that does not mean that the crime is always going up; it might just mean we are getting better at detecting it.”
“Obviously, it was a manifesto commitment of this Government to ensure that there were specialist RASSO—rape and serious sexual offences—teams in every police force, for the exact reason that my hon. Friend has outlined. It is not in the gift of Ministers standing here to ensure that something exists in every police force, because—quite rightly—of operational independence. However, there is a need for standardisation. For example, we would not allow the same lack of standardisation in response to terrorism—a point that Lady Elish makes in her review—and yet we allow it with regard to crimes against women. That is fundamental. Of course, I want to see an increase in police charging and police reporting, but that is not how we will measure whether we are decreasing incidents.”
“But Lady Elish deserves the respect of our actually looking at what is possible, rather than just going, “Yes, I will take them all,” and then not being able to deliver on them.”
“Okay, I will say “very soon”—that is the answer to that. When all hon. Members get to read Lady Elish’s full report, as I have—I obviously get it sooner—they will see that she particularly criticises Ministers or the police service standing up after part one of the report and saying, “Yes, we will just do everything,” and then going away and thinking, “Hang on—a bit of this, a bit of that.” I am going to give Lady Elish the respect that she deserves by taking away all the recommendations before I say exactly what I am going to do. When others get to read the strategy—I was interviewed by Lady Elish as part of this review—it will answer many of the questions in the report. The timing is awkward: had the strategy come out at the same time, I would be able to answer the question more fully.”
“I say that from this Dispatch Box with as much power as possible and with the Home Office behind me. Of course the Home Office has a role, and of course funding on things like prevention is absolutely the responsibility of the Government, but the basics of keeping women safe—we are more than half the population—should be absolutely basic policing.”
“We owe it to Sarah and to Sarah’s family, and to every family in our own constituencies that we have met, to ensure that this work actually gets done. I hear my hon. Friend’s anger at what progress has been made. Obviously this Labour Government will legislate and are putting on a statutory footing the issues around vetting, with what can and cannot be allowed and who can and cannot be a police officer, and hopefully that will lead to a sea change. I have to say, though, that the idea that there are police forces in this country that are not undertaking the most basic work in this space, with what Lady Angiolini has found about numbers, is inexcusable. I say to every chief constable in the country that this is a priority—make it a priority.”
“I was very heartened to hear that level of security and those increases. Do I think I will have as much as I would want? Never. Do I think I will have enough and that I will make do? Yes, I do.”
“Do I think I will get enough money? Any Minister who stands before the House and says yes to that question is lying. Look, I would, of course, always want more money, but actually there are fundamental problems in our system and in the culture of organisations that more money will not solve. Take us having more police—we have more police now, let us say, than we did 100 years ago, and that has not stopped this happening. There are absolutely fundamental things that need to change. I suppose I am here for a long time, not a good time, in that regard. We have to change absolute fundamentals. When the Justice Secretary was here before me giving his statement, he announced the £550 million—half a billion pounds—three-year settlement for victims funding, which will increase year on year with the rising rates of inflation.”
“Friend is talking about; I implore her force to implement a similar scheme. My hon. Friend mentions the use of community protection notices. In her review, Elish Angiolini has some interesting things to say about what police should be doing in public spaces using certain orders, so I ask my hon. Friend to have a look at some of those things. We will be talking in the violence against women and girls strategy about some of the issues that she has raised today. However, as I have said, just putting things on the statute book does not necessarily mean that, operationally, they will be brilliant. My job is to make sure that before I commence anything, it can actually work in practice.”
“I only wish that writing things on to the statute book changed the culture—it has been illegal to rape someone for quite some time, and it has been illegal to murder for even longer. I only wish that simply putting things on to the statute book made a difference. I would say to my hon. Friend’s police force that I always encourage good communications, including with the women involved. Policing is based on consent, and that is something we hold dear in our country. I implore the police to have discussions with my hon. Friend and the local community—about the community’s concerns and about what the police are going to do. I have seen this work all over the country. Project Vigilant by Thames Valley police is a brilliant example of work done with local businesses and local women’s groups to do exactly what my hon.”
“The causes of violence against women and girls—Lady Elish points out there is little prevention, and I very much hope to change that; that is my main focus—are actually rooted in something quite different.”
“Although I am an expert in this particular field, I am by no means an expert on rural communities, with the disparity and the need for better “by and for” services; we have “by and for” services for other under-represented communities. I really feel that there needs to be a considerably greater lobby around rurality and violence against women and girls; I am not the person to do this, so I implore the hon. Lady to act. I am totally here to hear it and to work alongside her, because what she says is absolutely the case. On the idea that stresses faced by a particular community cause violence against women and girls, I must point out, though, that the vast majority of people face stresses in their lives—and the vast majority of men—do not go on to abuse.”
“I genuinely welcome engagement with Members in this House, but I have learned something over the years; if you don’t mind me saying, Madam Deputy Speaker, I have felt slightly gaslit when people tell me that the sky is blue but then every case I handle tells me something else.”
“I can give an example from this morning, when I met around 60 stakeholders from organisations that work with children, with women and girls, and with perpetrators—lots of civil society organisations and businesses. We were in Downing Street with the Prime Minister, but it was not an event that was about drinking warm wine and eating nibbles; it was a working event to look at how we actually implement things. I know that people criticise the delay in the strategy, and that is fair enough, but the strategy is a piece of paper. How we actually make it work is much more important to me, and that is why we are working on it with stakeholders and providers.”
“The right hon. Gentleman makes a very important point. In part 1 of the Angiolini inquiry, Lady Elish made recommendations with regard to psychological testing prior to police recruitment, based on that exact issue. She also references heavily in this part 2 report Baroness Bertin’s review into violent and misogynistic pornography. This absolutely is an issue. The police faithfully said that they would undertake all of the part 1 report recommendations, and the next stage is to look not just at Wayne Couzens and vetting but at the case of David Carrick and his vetting as well. Undoubtedly, Lady Elish is already thinking about psychology in this regard, and it is at the forefront of her mind.”
“We are not going to get what we want in every single case—where somebody gets thrown in prison—but we have to make sure that our systems have options for safety and security for every woman wherever they come forward. That is what the violence against women and girls strategy is about.”
“With regard to my hon. Friend’s comments on trust in policing, what I would say is that nobody dislikes a bad copper like a good copper. When I go all over the country, the ones I meet are the those who are doing innovative and brilliant things in their local police forces—that is why I go out and see them. To her comments about the women in her constituency, the women who I have worked with do not have any choice but to trust the police, as it is a life-and-death situation. The best thing that we can do across the board to improve trust in policing is to make sure that the response to the crimes highlighted by my hon. Friend is good and responsive.”
“The Minister for Policing is in the office right next to mine. I get up in literally everybody’s grill, but I am very welcome in her office. Policing reform has to be rooted in exactly what we are trying to do around violence against women and girls, because the issue is endemic, as are other failings to do with postcode lotteries across the country. I am heavily involved in the violence against women and girls strategy, which will also coalesce with policing reform.”
“I only wish that we did not wait for terrible tragedies and total failings before we changed, so I stand again at this Dispatch Box and implore every agency and police force across the country to stretch every muscle to prioritise this issue.”
“The findings of the report will absolutely inform the strategy. I do speak to Lady Elish—but I am not waiting for Lady Elish’s various reports to do things or not. I cannot wait for reports if something absolutely needs to be done. With regard to policing in Rochdale, I will ensure that the new National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection looks into what my hon. Friend mentions. I look across the country at areas where police forces may have historically had quite public failings—as with the case of Sarah Everard—and it is really good to see the level of learning that there has been in lots of those places, but we want to see more.”
“I do not want to give too many trails on the strategy, but yes. For a long time, I have spent my career trying to put nicer, better plasters on cuts that do not get any smaller. That work is vital, but I want to stop the cuts from happening—I do not want to make nicer plasters any more—and that means doing things that have never been done before. Lady Elish said brilliantly in the report that plenty of things have been allowed, whether in policing or other areas, to try to make progress without the need for a completely solid evidence base. I want that for this area.”
“Somebody else spoke to them when we did not, and that somebody else—those somebody elses—did not have their best interests at heart. So absolutely, like with the White Ribbon campaign, we should talk to our men and boys about this, because they want to help.”
“It certainly does. There will not be a woman sitting in the Chamber today who has not experienced this—we have all felt unsafe. Lady Elish speaks for every single woman in the country when she says that. Actually, in my years of experience both personally and from working in this field, I have found the most frightening moment is not the moment of impact or the moment somebody gropes you; it is the things that lead up to it that leave you scared and leave you waiting. It is the leering that is frightening, actually—it is more frightening than the fact. That is the experience of literally every woman in our country at some point or another. Of course, we must not undermine that. As the mother of teenage sons, I stand here and say that while I want boys and men absolutely to be part of this, I do not feel that they have been included.”
“As the mother of somebody in that age bracket who works in a pub, I just wanted to stand up on his behalf and say thank you to the Chancellor.”
“I am seeing cases of a breach of an order leading to nine months’ imprisonment within a week of the incident happening, and with the woman never having to step inside a courtroom. That is what I want to see from an order regime.”