HebrideanHecateLabour was accused of running a futile 'talking shop' on women's safety on Sunday after a minister claimed that 'all' women in society are 'unsafe'. Bridget Phillipson was under fire on Sunday for her response to fears from female villagers about living near proposed housing for more than 1,000 asylum seekers – after Labour issued 'pointless' anti-rape pamphlets to migrants last month. The women and equalities minister made the extraordinary statement as she was asked about an open letter from a group of 133 women in Piddington, warning: 'We will not feel safe walking our streets.
We are already living in fear,' after it was announced that 1,256 men would be housed at a local former military site. On Sunday, Ms Phillipson announced that the Government had created a new taskforce bringing together national leaders and local experts to focus on tackling misogyny across society. But the minister immediately faced questions about what Labour is doing to tackle violence against women and girls as the Government was accused of making 'vacuous announcements' instead of taking action. When asked if women in Piddington were right about their safety concerns, Ms Phillipson told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: 'Sadly, yes, women are right to be fearful in society more widely about the attitudes and the normalisation of attitudes towards women and violence against women that I'd hoped we'd made more progress on, and I hoped we put behind us.'
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