Kemi Badenoch has defended her comments blaming “peasants” from “sub-communities” in foreign countries for the grooming gangs crisis.
The Conservative leader faced criticism for her words last week, with Downing Street saying it was not language Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would use.
But speaking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme, she insisted she would not be “shy” when talking about the issue.
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
“The point I was making there was about a specific report on that community of people who are predominant in the rape gangs,” she said.
“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.
“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.”
Mrs Badenoch has repeatedly clashed with Sir Keir over calls for a national inquiry.
She also told the programme that “evil habits” have 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.
The Government has previously knocked back calls for a national review in favour of locally-led inquiries, saying it is focused on implementing recommendations from Professor Alexis Jay’s 2022 report on the issue.
The issue gained international attention after tech billionaire Elon Musk posted a slew of attacks aimed at the Prime Minister over the issue at the start of the year.
