Jess Phillips puts on a defiant performance in the Commons during grooming gangs inquiry

Jess Phillips is facing demands to quit today as Labour's grooming gangs inquiry descends further into shambles. Furious victims have been calling for the Home Office minister to go claiming she had accused them of 'lying' about efforts to water down the probe. Ms Phillips put on a defiant performance in the Commons yesterday that further enraged critics, before Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood issued a statement at 10pm offering reassurance that she was committed to the process. However, fellow Cabinet minister Emma Reynolds acknowledged in interviews this morning that trust must be 'rebuilt' with victims. And there is still uncertainty over the future of the inquiry amid a struggle to find a head who is acceptable to all parties. The row escalated on Monday when Ms Phillips, who is overseeing the setting up of the inquiry, sent a letter to the Commons' home affairs select committee insisting it was 'untrue' ministers were seeking to widen the inquiry remit.