The Labour minister was slammed following her appearance on the programme.
Bridget Phillipson sparked outrage for her interview on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg (Image: BBC)
Bridget Phillipson has been accused of ignoring the concerns of women who wrote directly to her and other female MPs about fears surrounding asylum seekers being housed near them in Oxfordshire. Last week, 350 people from Piddington voted in favour of leaving the UK in protest at Labour plans to house over 1,250 male asylum seekers at a nearby military base. Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities, appeared on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, where she was asked whether the women were right to believe they would feel unsafe if asylum seekers were housed near them.
The Labour minister refused to answer the question directly, responding: “We take very seriously any concerns that women would raise around that. No final decision has been taken as to what’s to happen. She then turned her attention to Labour’s approach to the immigration crisis, acknowledging that no one wants asylum seekers to be housed in hotels or houses in multiple occupations.
The presenter pressed the politician on whether the women in Piddington are right to feel unsafe (Image: BBC)
“There is a question of fairness and how we deal with this as a country while recognising that we don’t actually want to be in this position in the first place.”
As she continued, Kuenssberg interjected and demanded an answer to her original question.
The presenter asked: “These women have written to you saying, ‘As fellow women, you will understand the serious risks this will expose to us. We will not feel safe.’ Are they wrong or are they right?”
The politician responded: “We will look very carefully at any concerns anyone raises. Women feeling safe in our country is a top priority for me.”
Kuenssberg retorted: “But are they right to be worried about their safety? That’s the question here.”
“Women are right to be fearful in society more widely about the attitudes and the normalisation of attitudes towards women and violence against women, but I hoped we’d made more progress on,” Phillipson said.
She added that the majority of women who experience violence in the UK do so at the hands of a partner or ex-partner.
She eventually said that she understands what the women are saying and insisted there will be security if the site in Piddington goes ahead.
When Kuenssberg asked her to clarify is she is agreeing that the women from Piddington should feel unsafe, the politician said: “Sadly, all of us in women in society are unsafe. That is the culture that we have right now in our country.”
Phillipson’s reluctance to directly address the issue sparked outrage from viewers, with one writing on X: “I think this is absolutely disgusting – deflecting from the genuine concerns of Piddington women to basically say well no women should be more concerned about their partners. It’s not the immigrants. Nothing to see here. @bphillipsonMP.”
Another posted: “@bphillipsonMP We take seriously the concerns of the residents of #Piddington and they are right to have concerns……waffle waffle waffle ….. but we will be ignoring them. God safe us all from this useless government, and this woman in particular.”
A third said: “Phillipson whataboutism but not answering whether women would be unsafe at Piddington.”
Taking aim at the politician, a fourth echoed: “Smh @bphillipsonMP, minister for women, telling piddington women stuff your fears of illegal men, laughable.”
Another raged: “Any chance of women being ‘defended’ by Bridget Phillipson and the rest of them is a bad joke. Untrustworthy liars who don’t care a jot.”