Kemi Badenoch has defended blaming “peasants” from “sub-communities” in foreign countries for the grooming gangs crisis.
Speaking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, she insisted she would not be “shy” when talking about the scandal, which saw a string of child sexual exploitation convictions of men mostly from Pakistani backgrounds.
Ms Badenoch told GB News last week there is a “systematic pattern of behaviour not even just from one country, but from sub-communities”, adding: “You know, people who are very, very poor, sort of peasant background.”
The Conservative leader faced criticism for her words, with Downing Street saying it was not language Sir Keir Starmer would use.
But Ms Badenoch doubled down on her words, telling Trevor Phillips: “The point I was making there was about a specific report on that community of people who are predominant in the rape gangs.
“They did come from a particular place where they were mostly peasant farmers, they were insular, even from the rest of Pakistan, they’re not like the people in Lahore.
“And that’s one of the things that I’m trying to fix. I hear a lot of people talk about Asian grooming gangs, about Pakistani grooming gangs, a lot of people are being blamed, a lot of innocent people who happen to share characteristics are being blamed, so let’s be specific.”
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‘Our country is not a hotel’
Sky News’ analysis of the data on the victims and perpetrators of child sexual abuse shows in terms of group-based offences, 85% of suspects are white, while 7% are Asian and 5% are black.
The ethnicity of perpetrators and victims was only recorded in 29% of cases so it is difficult to be too conclusive about over and under-representation. But there’s enough evidence to rule out the idea that this is a problem unique to any one ethnic group.
Sir Keir and Ms Badenoch have clashed repeatedly over her calls for a national inquiry, with the prime minister saying one has already happened, referencing Professor Alexis Jay’s inquiry that took seven years and was published in 2022.
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Grooming gangs scandal – what happened?
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Ms Badenoch also told Trevor Phillips “evil habits” have been propagated from people who have come to the UK from a “particular region and sub-community in Pakistan”.
“The [immigration] numbers we have seen over the last few decades mean that we are getting people having separate and insular communities.
“The most extreme example of this is what we saw with the rape gangs where people who’ve been coming to this country, from the 60s, from a particular region and sub-community in Pakistan, get here, stay insular, not interested in integration.
“And then you start seeing very very toxic, I would say evil habits propagating and no one doing anything about it because they’re separate.
“We have to make sure that we have a dominant culture in our country, and the people who move here want to help make the UK a better place.”
“Our country’s not a hotel, it’s not a dormitory, this is our home,” she added.