An emergency phone line to protect lone women in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder has been binned, HuffPost UK can reveal.
After Wayne Couzens was sentenced to life in prison, in September 2021, BT proposed a new 888 service for women who felt unsafe walking alone.
Former home secretary Priti Patel approved the “innovative scheme” and said it would be good to “get going as soon as we can”.
“I’m now looking at it with my team and liaising with BT,” she added.
BT CEO Philip Jansen said it might cost as little as £50 million and could be up and running by Christmas 2021.
Their “walk me home service” would allow vulnerable women to have their journeys tracked, triggering an alert if they failed to reach home in time.
Women would be able to use a mobile app, potentially with the number 888, to summon police if they felt threatened.
The initiative was criticised at the time as “pointless” and a “plaster” over the real problem of male violence.
Now, a year-and-a-half since the announcement, BT has finally confirmed the plan has been junked.
A BT spokesperson said: “It became clear over the course of our work that it does not make sense, as we thought initially, to launch a new BT service, but rather to share our learnings for the wider benefit of others already working on this.”
They said anyone who is concerned about their personal safety should “continue to dial 999”.
Labour’s Jess Phillips, shadow minister for domestic abuse and safeguarding, said: “Again and again, this Conservative government put gimmicks and headline chasing above the hard work needed to tackle the epidemic of violence against women and girls.
“This helpline was never a serious plan and it is telling of the Conservatives’ weakness that they supported it in the first place.”
Phillips said the next Labour government’s mission is to halve levels of violence against women and girls within a decade.
The party has promised to put rape and domestic abuse specialists in every police force, set up a domestic abuse register and fast-track rape cases.
Reclaim These Streets co-founder Jamie Klingler added: “As I said at the time, this was a red herring and just a way to pretend that the government was doing anything substantial to actually keep women any safer. It was never really a possibility and fiscally made no sense.
“Since the so called watershed moment of Sarah’s murder the government and police have done nothing to make our lives safer.
“We are getting stalked, raped and killed with our attackers never being brought to justice while they pretend to create new phone lines.”
A BT spokesperson said their objective was to see how they could lend their expertise to help personal safety in light of male violence.
They said they found a “rich ecosystem” of services and apps in existence so they have worked with innovators pursuing their goal.
“We’ve developed a solid body of new technology,” they added. “However, it became clear over the course of our work that it does not make sense, as we thought initially, to launch a new BT service, but rather to share our learnings for the wider benefit of others already working on this.”
They said BT will continue to offer to help support the cause and is currently working with other leaders, adding: “Anyone that is concerned about their personal safety should continue to dial 999.
“Our operators are highly trained, know how to listen for issues even if it is a ‘silent’ call, and will be able to route through to the police if and as needed.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The 888 phone line for women was a BT project, not a government scheme.
“We are committed to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls.
“We have so far allocated £125 million to communities across England and Wales to invest in measures including improved street lighting and CCTV, and street marshals.
“We are also supporting the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Bill, which will ensure that the criminals who intimidate and harass women face the consequences.”