Jess Phillips' resignation letter in full

"I want to start by first saying that we have worked closely together on Violence Against Women and Girls for many years and I have no doubt you have genuine knowledge and desire to rectify this dreadful social ill. We have started to make steps towards change whilst in government and I have been grateful for your support. However, it would be remiss of me not to say that real change and direction in this area usually came from threats made by me in light of catastrophic mistakes."

"I think you are a good man fundamentally, who cares about the right things however I have seen first-hand how that is not enough. The desire not to have an argument means we rarely make an argument, leaving opportunities for progress stalled and delayed. Over a year ago I presented solutions, long worked on by brilliant civil servants that would end the ability for children in the UK to take naked images of themselves."

"91% of online child sex abuse is self-generated by children groomed, tricked and exploited in to abuse. The technology exists to stop children being able to take naked images of themselves. We could make this possible on every phone and device in the country. We could stop this abuse. It has taken me a year to get you to agree to even threaten to legislate in this space. Not legislate, just threaten."

"This is the definition of incremental change. Nothing bold about it. The announcement was meant to be in March, I'm still on a promise this will happen in June, I've given up believing it. How many children were left without a safety net in the time we dilly da"

Jess Phillips resigned from Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet as safeguarding minister. She said she had worked closely with him on Violence Against Women and Girls and believed he had genuine knowledge and desire to address the issue. She credited some steps toward change but argued that real direction often came only after threats and crises. She said avoiding arguments led to progress being stalled and delayed. She described presenting solutions over a year earlier to stop children in the UK from taking naked images of themselves, noting that 91% of online child sex abuse is self-generated by children groomed and exploited. She said technology exists to prevent children from taking such images on every phone and device, but she reported that agreement to even threaten legislation took a year and that promised action kept slipping from March to June.

Read at www.bbc.com