Labour are 'almost over-controlling', says minister Jess Phillips, as she admits Starmer gift row is 'not a good look'

20 September 2024, 09:52

Jess Phillips: Labour are 'almost over-controlling'

Government minister Jess Phillips has claimed that Labour are "almost over-controlling", after Keir Starmer insisted he remained in charge of the government.

Ms Phillips told LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast that entering government had even been "a culture shock" because of the control exerted over her.

She was speaking after it emerged this week that the Prime Minister's top adviser Sue Gray is paid more than him - leading him to insist on Thursday that he was still "in control" of the government.

Asked by Nick if it was unusual for the PM to feel he had to make such a statement after less than three months in power, Ms Phillips said: "Maybe it's because it's a culture shock for me to go it to be in government, and to have anyone controlling me, frankly, but I do feel like they're in control.

"Sometimes I feel like they're sort of over-controlling me."

Read more: Keir Starmer uses Arsenal hospitality 'for work reasons', says Labour MP

Read more: Starmer’s top aide Sue Gray ‘is paid more than PM’ and ‘said no when asked if her salary could be slightly lower’

Watch Again: Nick Ferrari speaks to Jess Phillips | 20/09/24

It also emerged this week that Starmer has been given gifts amounting to around £100,000 since 2019.

Asked by Nick if it was "a good look" for the Prime Minister to be accepting so many gifts at the same time as stripping millions of pensioners of winter fuel payments, Ms Phillips said: "No one could deny that - but they are two completely separate things."

She added: "And had Keir Starmer never gone to see the Arsenal, we'd still have a... £22 billion black hole, and tough decisions would still have had to be made."

Starmer was also told by Labour peer and former deputy leader Harriet Harman to stop trying to “justify” accepting gifts. She added that his excuses were “making things worse”.

Ms Phillips, who is the minister for safeguarding, was speaking as the Home Office said some police forces will start embedding domestic abuse specialists in their 999 control rooms early next year.

This is part of "Raneem's Law" to transform the way the police handle cases of violence against women and girls.

The Government will fund the pilot in targeted police forces from early 2025, but did not say how many forces would be involved in the initial rollout.

Nour Norris, whose niece Raneem Oudeh, 22, and sister Khaola Saleem, 49, were murdered by Ms Oudeh's ex-partner in 2018, said that those calling the police for help "need to be given the opportunity to be saved".

Ms Phillips said that although Ms Oudeh's case was "harrowing and with the worst outcome", it was "by no means the only case like this that I have heard or even that has reached into our newspapers."

She added: "What we are seeking to do is change the culture within 999 call rooms, this absolutely vital epicentre of people who are the first people, often, that somebody will talk to in a moment of either crisis or bravery... to make sure that the very first response is the right one".