Survivors of Telford abuse scandal 'stand by Jess' after Elon Musk's attack on minister

The Guardian reports that three Telford women, Holly Archer, Joanne Phillips and Scarlett Jones, have put their names to a letter in support of the government minister.

The letter, which was co-ordinated by the campaign group Killed Women, comes after the owner of social media site X, Elon Musk, called for Phillips, a Home Office Minister, to be jailed, and described her as a 'rape genocide apologist'.

That attack followed this month's publication of Phillips' decision, which was actually taken back in October, to reject a request from Oldham Council to carry out a government-led inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the town.

Phillips had recommended Oldham carry out its own independent inquiry, following the model used in Telford - which was led by Tom Crowther KC.

Earlier this week Mr Crowther said that a local inquiry such as that followed in Telford was the way forward, saying: "My solution is if you are actually going to address these problems what you need to do is look at it at a local level, what went wrong - granular information and detailed recommendations, and do what Telford has done."

He added: "Telford's response has been remarkable."

That has seen Ms Archer, Ms Phillips and Ms Jones all working as 'lived experience consultants' to guide the response to Telford's CSE inquiry.

Phillips has also spoken about the impact of Musk's attack, saying extra protection had been put in place since his comments.

She described his attacks as “ridiculous” adding: “My immediate thought was like just, it’s sort of like, what a joke. And then the realisation of what this is probably going to mean for you.”

Asked if it has turned her world upside down she said: “Yeah a little bit, a lot. Well, a lot actually it’s… it’s not great.”

She also spoke of her frustrations at the distraction from her efforts to help women and girls who are victims.

She said: “The thing that annoys me the most about it is it takes up so much bandwidth of my time from a man who knows absolutely nothing about the subject he’s talking about, when the only thing I ever want to be doing is being able to use all of my brain power to focus on the hundreds of girls I have supported over the years who have been victims of grooming gangs and what needs to happen to make their lives better and to stop what is still happening today.”

The letter co-ordinated by Killed Women, which is also signed by four other women who have lost a female relative to gender-based violence or have suffered domestic abuse, describes Phillips as a someone who has "devoted her life to fighting for women and girls".

Reported in the Guardian, the letter states: "We write as victims of extreme male violence. What connects us all beyond our shared trauma is the support and kindness we have received from Jess Phillips over many years, personally and as activists fighting for change.

“We know there are those who would weaponise our pain for their own ends or political gain; who speak out with new-found interest, not to tackle the horrendous crimes that stole so much from us, but to further their own agenda. They should hang their heads in shame.

“As campaigners and activists, we fight every day to stop what happened to us or our loved ones happening to anyone else. 

"We stand by Jess, knowing she has devoted her life to fighting for women and girls.”