temperatures could drop to as low as minus 20 by midweek in parts of scotland and the north of england. a cold weather health alert has been extended to the weekend. with a closer look at the weather, there is no let up? staying cold, typical midwinter weather across the country. that evening to you. the temperatures are falling like a stone already across the country,

tonight, the labour minister called a rape genocide apologist by elon musk tells us his posts have put her in danger. musk tells us his posts have put her in dancer. �* , in danger. being in the spotlight like this and _ in danger. being in the spotlight like this and the _ in danger. being in the spotlight like this and the intimation - in danger. being in the spotlight like this and the intimation of. in danger. being in the spotlight i like this and the intimation of what elon musk, the disinformation as i believe the prime minister referred

to it as is put out about me, it is endangering. to it as is put out about me, it is endangering-— to it as is put out about me, it is endangering. and we will hear the inside view _ endangering. and we will hear the inside view from _ endangering. and we will hear the inside view from trump _ endangering. and we will hear the inside view from trump world. - endangering. and we will hear the inside view from trump world. in | inside view from trump world. in less than two weeks, donald trump will be resident again. is he already turning the post—war settlement on its head? —— president again. good evening. welcome to newsnight, live each weeknight from broadcasting house, with interviews and insight. your panellists this evening — political scientist professor ben ansell and host of radio 4's rethink programme. welcome to you. and former conservative culture secretary nadine dorries. hello to you. and nick is here. tonight, donald trump's said this... we need greenland for national

security purposes. people don't even really know if denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security. that is for the free world, i am talking about protecting the free world. we'll unpick that with a trump insider shortly. since elon musk became interested in britain's rape grooming gangs scandal, he's criticised politicians across britain's political spectrum to his 211 million x followers. and he singled out labour'sjess phillips, calling her a "rape genocide apologist" because of her opposition to a fresh national public inquiry. tonight, she's spoken to newsnight. i asked her first why she had rejected the calls to hold a national, home office—led review into grooming in oldham and, instead, told the council there to hold its own, like that in telford. now, i've worked in this field for years. i have met with... i have supported, for a number of years, girls who are still being groomed. girls who i've sat for nine hours at a police station while they're

giving their evidence, only to be told, no further action. i've travelled across the country in the middle of the night — something that i very much doubt that kemi badenoch or chris philp have done — to get a young woman, literally, while she was bleeding from a battering from her groomers to take her to a place of safety. everything, every decision i make comes from that experience and their voices. and what i saw happen in telford is the exact opposite of what i have seen happen because of the national iicsa inquiry for the last two years since it came out. i saw change happen. so from the previous reviews into what happened in telford and other towns, you saw actual progress? i saw actual progress. i saw council officers change the way that they deal with things.

i saw victims brought in to that council as independent advisers to get the recommendations done. can i ask you to address the suggestion by some that you turned the home office national review into what happened in oldham down because it will be very unpopular with some labour voters? your majority at the general election — i can see that you're smiling at that — was reduced to 693. nick timothy, conservative mp, former chief of staff to theresa may, wrote this: "there are allegations about the conduct of senior labour councillors in oldham." is that what it's about? what an absolute load of rubbish. it is absolutely.... and when somebody like nick timothy, who worked in the home office for decades and did nothing about this, suddenly, he's there.

why didn't he, if he thought that this was so important? they are simply playing politics. i have absolutely no interest. the idea that i am trying to protect anyone belies the hours i've sat in police stations trying to get people taken down, belies the amount of time i've sat next to victims in a courtroom, because they'll only give their evidence because i'm sat next to them. i... it is a disgraceful thing to say, by people who have done nothing. you have spent your working life, as you've pointed out, trying to help women and girls who've survived violence and sexual abuse. you're in touch with victims every day. what are they saying to you about the issue of these mass rape gangs being back at the top of the political agenda and the way it's got there? whenever it's in the news — because it comes around periodically — i send out messages to all of the young... most of them aren't girls any more. many of them are young women, who i have worked with over

the years, to just check they're 0k. because it's pretty grim for them that their trauma gets used as a political football by people who would never hang around with them in real life, um, and don't care about them at all. so i always check in with them. but in this instance, uh, there was a group of the victims got in touch with me to make sure that i was ok. and, you know, it felt like a sort of cathartic moment. um, that these women were able to be the person to try and help. it is horrendous for them. i can't get out of my head the image of some of the things that i have seen that these young women... i've met women who've been branded. just explain what that means.

like a grooming gang will literally mark you with a knife, so that your ownership is clear. i have met girls trafficked around the country, literally put in warehouses above some shop or another, in a place they don't know, and raped repeatedly. the idea that some kneejerk, based on... ..you know, a rich man a thousand miles away is the way to serve these children and change things in the future. it appears that this intervention from elon musk has put this at the top of the political agenda in this country. we saw yvette cooper, the home secretary, announce new and accelerated measures in the commons last night. has he not helped accelerate things? look, my mother taught me, never waste a crisis, and i absolutely don't

intend to waste this one. and i will make everybody�*s sudden interest in this make some actual outcomes in this area. but has he prompted that? to be perfectly honest, the things that yvette cooper was announcing yesterday are all things that we were working incredibly hard on ensuring that just the announcement of them gets made. the idea that we were going to have a victims panel, you can't imagine that i would ever set up a group about child sexual abuse and not have a victims panel. it's not my modus operandi. i'm not the last lot. uh, so all of these things are things that would be happening. all this current furore has done is made it so that everybody is talking about it. and so we're out there talking about the actions we were always going to take.

elon musk described you on x as a "rape genocide apologist". what did you think when you saw that? i'm no stranger to people who don't know what they're talking about trying to silence women like me. since he started posting about you, are you having to go about your daily life differently at all? yes, my daily life is currently different. i won't go into the details of that but, yes, it is, uh... being in the spotlight like this and the suggestion of what elon musk is, the disinformation, as i believe the prime minister referred to it as, has put out about me is endangering.

you have received hundreds of threats in the past. rape threats, death threats. you've had to install a panic alarm in your constituency office at one point. is this different, though? the level of attention is seemingly far, far greater. it takes up a huge amount of bandwidth, and i cannot let it take up that bandwidth in my life. whether that's fear of my safety, whether that's just the volume of communication that comes with it. you know, people, i mean, its people being nice as much as it is people being awful. it is a lot. and i have a job to do to get the recommendations of the previous... and to ensure that we are... you know, the way i will react to this is, i will be getting all of the council leaders together to ask them to look at exactly what telford did, because that's what i know worked, and look at how we can actually make an actual change, rather than just wave a flag and hope that it will make it better. i just want to be absolutely clear, are you saying that as a result of some of musk�*s tweets,

the threat to you has gone up, and things are in place to protect your safety? yes. how does that make you feel? resigned to the lot in life that you get as a woman who fights violence against women and girls. um, i've learnt... i've learnt that its ups and downs, um, in my life, but what it makes me know is that i have to just keep on going. is it worth it? it's worth it to me only if we make an actual change. that's what's worth it to me. and if i had to go through all of this and i hadn't changed the way local areas deal with grooming gangs in two years' time, it wouldn't have been worth it. but i'm fairly certain that won't happen. jess phillips, thank you very much for talking to us tonight. —— talking to newsnight.

nadine dorries, you were a government minister and here is one who appears to be having to have extra security since elon musk tweets. do you have sympathy with her? ., ., ., ., , her? no-one can condone any behaviour. — her? no-one can condone any behaviour, words _ her? no-one can condone any behaviour, words or _ her? no-one can condone anyj behaviour, words or otherwise her? no-one can condone any - behaviour, words or otherwise which put an mp puzzlement life in danger. i have been there in westminster and i have been there in westminster and i have been there in westminster and i have lived through the death of a good friend, david amess and jo cox. —— an mp's life. i have been subject to many death threats myself and i had a stalker for nine years which ended up as a court case. but i'm afraid it is part of modern life as afraid it is part of modern life as a politician that this is what happens. d0 a politician that this is what ha ens. ,, a politician that this is what happens-— a politician that this is what hauens. ., _ , a politician that this is what hauens. ., ,y y., happens. do you have sympathy or not? of course _ happens. do you have sympathy or not? of course i _ happens. do you have sympathy or not? of course i have _ happens. do you have sympathy or not? of course i have sympathy, i happens. do you have sympathy or. not? of course i have sympathy, but i would not? of course i have sympathy, but i would also — not? of course i have sympathy, but i would also question _ not? of course i have sympathy, but i would also question some - not? of course i have sympathy, but i would also question some of - not? of course i have sympathy, but i would also question some of the i i would also question some of the premise around the context in terms of how these threats are happening. there was an announcementjust recently that £31 million had been put aside for a number of mps who actually needed day—to—day protection because they were under

what was considered living a serious death threat. they were not coming from elon musk. they were coming from elon musk. they were coming from who knows? but i'm afraid part and parcel of politics today and being an mp today and the fact we now have social media and widespread use of social media, it has made being a politician very different is a choice of career for many women. like the leader of the conservatives who you are not a massive fan of it seems, you also want to see a full national inquiry, another one. when did you first realise you wanted that? g , ., did you first realise you wanted that? g , a, did you first realise you wanted that? , a, , , did you first realise you wanted that? , a, ,, a, a, a, that? just on the issue of i am not a massive — that? just on the issue of i am not a massive fan. _ that? just on the issue of i am not a massive fan, i— that? just on the issue of i am not a massive fan, i did _ that? just on the issue of i am not a massive fan, i did back- that? just on the issue of i am not a massive fan, i did back robert . a massive fan, i did back robert jenrick for the leadership and i do support kemi badenoch as leader because i want the conservative party to succeed in what is an increasingly unstable political environment. i want what is the longest standing and most successful political party to do well. so i

want kemi badenoch to do well. imilieu want kemi badenoch to do well. when did ou first want kemi badenoch to do well. when did you first realise _ want kemi badenoch to do well. when did you first realise you _ want kemi badenoch to do well. when did you first realise you wanted to see a full national inquiry? 50 did you first realise you wanted to see a full national inquiry?- see a full national inquiry? so as ou know see a full national inquiry? so as you know last — see a full national inquiry? so as you know last time _ see a full national inquiry? so as you know last time i _ see a full national inquiry? so as you know last time i was - see a full national inquiry? so as you know last time i was on - see a full national inquiry? so as you know last time i was on your programme, i was you know last time i was on your programme, iwas a you know last time i was on your programme, i was a victim of child sex abuse myself in the church of england. i was a very... i was very aware and set in a number of community meetings with child sex abuse because of my own story that i had not revealed at the time and i had not revealed at the time and i had attended meetings with the labour mpjohn mann. i was very supportive of that inquiry taking place. a degree when it began to falter and to make sure that it continued and it didn't enter. == continued and it didn't enter. —— particularly when. continued and it didn't enter. -- particularly when. when - continued and it didn't enter. -- particularly when. when did - continued and it didn't enter. -- particularly when. when did you | particularly when. when did you realise? probably _ particularly when. when did you realise? probably when - particularly when. when did you realise? probably when the - particularly when. when did you | realise? probably when the core first came for one. from elon musk? —— the call. they assumed because i was secretary of state when the jay report first came out and i believed the recommendations were being

carried out and i believe there were 500 arrests as a result. but what i was not aware of was that at the time, because the information was concealed, i was not aware that the problem was as widespread as it was. i believed it was in rotherham and telford and other towns. i wasn't aware the inquiry had not included oldham. i wasn't aware of the inquiry had excluded a huge number of witnesses who wanted to make statements, including people like maggie oliver, the police turned detective and whistle—blower. she detective and whistle-blower. she ave a lot detective and whistle-blower. she gave a lot of _ detective and whistle—blower. she gave a lot of evidence to the greater manchester review commissioned by andy burnham. she also has a commissioned by andy burnham. sue: also has a huge amount commissioned by andy burnham. s12 also has a huge amount of experience and knowledge on what has taken place and she should have been the first person to be on the evidence list for a national inquiry and she wasn't. tomorrow the conservatives will force a vote in parliament. kai also said the inquiry _ force a vote in parliament. kai also said the inquiry was _ force a vote in parliament. kai also said the inquiry was further - said the inquiry was further reaching than grooming gangs and i

think a national inquiry and what happened in terms of the grooming gangs and the people who knew about it such as the police. but you were in government for that i was culture secretary and this came nowhere near my desk. but secretary and this came nowhere near m desk. �* , ., . secretary and this came nowhere near m desk. �* ., secretary and this came nowhere near m desk. ., ., ., my desk. but you are sat around the cabinet table — my desk. but you are sat around the cabinet table enough. _ my desk. but you are sat around the cabinet table enough. i _ my desk. but you are sat around the cabinet table enough. i can - my desk. but you are sat around the cabinet table enough. i can assure l cabinet table enough. i can assure ou it was cabinet table enough. i can assure you it was never _ cabinet table enough. i can assure you it was never discussed - cabinet table enough. i can assure you it was never discussed when i | you it was never discussed when i was in the cabinet. i’m you it was never discussed when i was in the cabinet.— you it was never discussed when i was in the cabinet. i'm asking you why because _ was in the cabinet. i'm asking you why because a _ was in the cabinet. i'm asking you why because a number _ was in the cabinet. i'm asking you why because a number of - was in the cabinet. i'm asking you why because a number of print - why because a number of print servers where a government and are calling for it now. i servers where a government and are calling for it now.— calling for it now. i can't answer but i calling for it now. i can't answer but i think— calling for it now. i can't answer but i think a _ calling for it now. i can't answer but i think a good _ calling for it now. i can't answer but i think a good person - calling for it now. i can't answer but i think a good person to - calling for it now. i can't answer but i think a good person to askj calling for it now. i can't answer - but i think a good person to ask the question to be suella braverman and priti patel uber home secretary at time. , ., . ., priti patel uber home secretary at time. , ., ., time. there is no record of you speaking _ time. there is no record of you speaking in _ time. there is no record of you speaking in the _ time. there is no record of you speaking in the chamber- time. there is no record of you - speaking in the chamber specifically about oldham, telford or rotherham or calling for a national inquiry. i did support and i did attend can you do not have to stand up in chamber and speak about something to support something, i attended those meetings at a time it was launched.— at a time it was launched. tomorrow conservatives _ at a time it was launched. tomorrow conservatives will _ at a time it was launched. tomorrow conservatives will force _ at a time it was launched. tomorrow

conservatives will force a _ at a time it was launched. tomorrow conservatives will force a vote - at a time it was launched. tomorrow conservatives will force a vote in - conservatives will force a vote in parliament on holding another fresh national inquiry into the child rape gang scandal despite the concerns of setting up that seven year long to £1 million independent inquiry on child sexual abuse. the then home secretary theresa may set it up and set the terms of reference and then there are several government did not implement any of the 20 recommendations so as not calling for another one the very definition of political opportunism? the for another one the very definition of political opportunism?- of political opportunism? the sad thing about _ of political opportunism? the sad thing about the _ of political opportunism? the sad thing about the sentence - of political opportunism? the sad thing about the sentence is - of political opportunism? the sad thing about the sentence is as - thing about the sentence is as health minister and culture secretary i dealt with a number of reports and quite frequently find that these inquiries will take place and none of the recommendations are implemented. 50 and none of the recommendations are implemented-— and none of the recommendations are implemented. so the same people who did not implement _ implemented. so the same people who did not implement the _ did not implement the recommendations are calling for another one and i ask you is that not the definition of political opportunism. i not the definition of political opportunism— opportunism. i think it is a definition _ opportunism. i think it is a definition of— opportunism. i think it is a definition of what - opportunism. i think it is a definition of what we - opportunism. i think it is a definition of what we need j opportunism. i think it is a i definition of what we need to opportunism. i think it is a - definition of what we need to do to fix how government deals with inquiries. i think part of the

problem is that dealing with the recommendations which are usually made by people outside westminster that the people who actually put in place those recommendations are civil servants or others. so it is their fault? civil servants or others. so it is theirfault? so what civil servants or others. so it is their fault? so what your team with their fault? so what your team with the someone outside of the normal processes and maybe not able to be delivered by government or the civil service and i think it is these processes that take place within government and how government and the civil service function which makes delivering some of the recommendations almost impossible.