Man charged with making threats towards Jess Phillips

A man has been charged with sending threats to Labour safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, police report.

Devon and Cornwall Police said that Jack Bennett, 39, has been charged with three counts of malicious communications.

The messages were sent between April 2024 and January 2025 and involved three victims, Sky News reports.

These included the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley

The accused, from Seaton, east Devon, was charged over the weekend, it is understood.

He has been bailed to appear before Exeter Magistrates’ Court on February 18.

It comes after Ms Phillips denied requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation and grooming in Oldham.

Ms Phillips said she recognised the “strength of feeling” for a Home Office-led inquiry, but she told the local council that the Government will not “intervene”.

She said: “I believe it is for Oldham Council alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the Government to intervene.”

Tech billionaire Elon Musk suggested on Thursday that Ms Phillips “deserves to be in prison”.

The entrepreneur added that “rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice”.

The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, earlier today criticised comments in which Mr Musk described Ms Phillips as a “rape genocide apologist”, saying “a line has been crossed” leading to threats against the minister as a result of the “poison of the far-right”.

At the general election last year, Ms Phillips came close to losing her seat.

She attained 31.2% of the vote, with the Workers Party of Britain candidate, Jody McIntyre, running her close on 29.3%.

Reform UK garnered 14%, the Tories 10.1%.