I roundly told her to fuck off .... She fucked off. People said to me they had always wanted to say that to her, and I don’t know why they don’t as the opportunity presents itself every other minute.

During the first meeting of Labour MPs (14 September 2015) after Jeremy Corbyn became party leader/leader of the opposition, Phillips asked Corbyn why a woman had not been appointed to shadow any of the three other great offices of state (those being Home and Foreign Secretary and Chancellor). In response, Abbott had said "you're not the only feminist in the PLP [Parliamentary Labour Party]", but, in 2018, Abbott said Phillips had not responded to her in the manner described.