Speeches by Phillips.

“On the legislative ones, I wish I could sit here and say yes to you. You know the signs for cars as you drive around Parliament that say, “Dead slow?” I always think, “You’re not wrong; Parliament moves quite slowly.” Legislation has barriers that I sometimes cannot foresee. However, one of them we will put immediately…”

“That is absolutely true.”

“Again, I reiterate my point that I would always like more. Baroness Casey’s recommendation 12, which was agreed to by the Government, fulsomely by the Prime Minister, is that this work will be fully funded. Obviously, that is part of all the work that has gone on last week, but I will be making keen representations, as…”

“Obviously, it is led by the Department for Education; it sits within its purview, and plans are in place to use existing systems and then change them. I will not apologise for making an enormous change in child protection and seeking to consult with experts—including Alexis Jay—to ensure that that happens and is done p…”

“It will start by the end of the year, but I believe it is afoot currently. Again, I would say the Department for Education would be better suited to answer your questions.”

“You can decide whether it is helpful or unhelpful, but Louise did not write a figure into the document. Obviously some of the work around working up exactly what that looks like and the form of inquiry is currently under way. I suppose I will revert to what Louise quite helpfully said, “We were given the report 10 days…”

“My pleasure.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Tracy Gilbert) for securing the debate. The depth of her knowledge and passion about this issue was obvious as she spoke. The men she spoke of in her opening remarks, and the reviews that she r…”

“Child sexual exploitation and abuse are the most horrific crimes, and the Government are taking decisive action to ensure that victims and survivors of grooming gangs get the justice that they deserve. We are delivering on the key recommendations of the seven-year independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, including …”

“The idea that I or the Prime Minister have ever put anything other than the interests of the victims of grooming gangs at the heart of everything that we have ever worked for is, frankly, for the birds. We have increased the number of arrests of the perpetrators that the right hon. Gentleman talks about. We will contin…”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point that short-term funding massively hampers the sector. The vast majority of violence against women and girls funding comes from local authorities and, in fact, other Departments, but I will absolutely commit to looking at how the Home Office manages its contracts to ensure sustain…”

“Yes, of course. As my hon. Friend knows, I have had a strong bond with Doreen for many years. Of course I would be delighted to meet him and her.”

“We are already taking significant steps to make sure that violence against women and girls is treated as the national emergency that it is. That includes launching our domestic abuse protection orders, and investing almost £20 million this year in specialist services for victims and in projects to help prevent VAWG and…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her question and I apologise for the month’s wait. I waited 14 years for anyone to do anything. Baroness Casey has requested a short extension to her work from the Home Secretary, and the Home Secretary has informed the Home Affairs Committee of this. We expect the report very shortly, and whe…”

“It is well beyond my remit as safeguarding Minister to make asylum policy, but I can absolutely guarantee the hon. Lady that migrant women and their experiences will be part of the violence against women and girls strategy; this issue has received some of the money from the recent uplift in victim services. Working tog…”

“New clause 41, tabled by the hon. Member for Stockton West, would make it an offence to provide free or discounted rent in exchange for sex. I reassure the hon. Member that the Government firmly believe that the exploitation and abuse that can occur through so-called sex-for-rent arrangements has no place in our societ…”

“The Government have set out an unprecedented mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, and we have already set out a number of transformative measures to overhaul the policing response to these terrible crimes. This includes announcing a £13 million investment in the new national centre for vio…”

“We are working with Cabinet Office colleagues and others across Government on the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse. It is vital to ensure that any strategy includes therapeutic and other support for child victims, so that they can take action, and we can ensure justice.”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The Victims Minister and I chair the violence against women and girls cross-government board, which meets very regularly. It has led to our violence against women and girls strategy, which sits within that. It is an expert group that helps us on policy. It includes local governme…”

“I will absolutely protect my own in this. My own are the women in our country, who, for the last 14 years, have seen no efforts made. People say terrible things, and the Leader of the House was right to apologise. I wonder how many of those on the Opposition Front Bench asked the former Prime Minister to apologise for …”