Kemi Badenoch has been accused of Islamophobia after blaming “peasants” from “sub-communities” in foreign countries for the grooming gangs crisis.
The Conservative leader made the comments to GB News on Monday evening - having just said “there was a lot of generalisation” about the issue - and renewed her calls for a national inquiry.
“One is on the perpetrators’ side: where do these abusers come from?” she asked. “There’s a lot of misinformation, there’s a lot of generalisation and many innocent people will end up being grouped in with them.”
“But there is a systematic pattern of behaviour, not even just from one country, but from sub-communities within those countries,” she continued. “People with a particular background, work background. People with a very poor background, a sort of peasant background, very, very rural, almost cut off from even the home origin countries that they might have been in.”
The remarks from Ms Badenoch - who has previously been accused of jumping on the bandwagon over the grooming gangs scandal - have been met with condemnation.
“These comments are shockingly offensive and irresponsible,” Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer told The Independent. “Kemi Badenoch is the leader of the opposition – she should know better than to peddle this backwards Islamophobia which only leads to division and hatred in our communities, and drives support for the far right.
“Any politician who is serious about tackling sexual abuse and exploitation of girls in this country must put the victims and their needs front and centre – not use the issue as an excuse to push their own agenda and try to make political capital.
The Government’s line is crumbling.
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) January 10, 2025
Even Labour Mayor, Andy Burnham knows there has to be a public inquiry into the rape gangs.
⚫️It can be an inquiry that gets answers quickly
⚫️It can draw on existing work and
⚫️it can also COMPEL witnesses to attend and give evidence UNDER…
“I hope to see senior Conservatives distancing themselves from Badenoch’s comments this morning – as politicians we all have a responsibility to our communities to stop a dangerous race to the bottom in how we speak about these issues.”
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart said: "We should be focusing on delivering justice for survivors and preventing child sexual abuse from happening in the future, and comments like this do nothing to help.
“Liberal Democrats will keep pushing for the real change that victims deserve."
Asked about the Tory leader’s comments, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It’s not language he’s used, or indeed, I’d envisage him using.”
Earlier on Monday, Labour MP for Rotherham Sarah Champion joined calls for a national inquiry.
Departing from the party line, she said any such inquiry should be led locally and probe the failings of authorities over grooming gangs.
She proposed a national “Telford-style” inquiry rolled out by the Home Office to areas that trigger the threshold for greater scrutiny.
The findings would then be fed back to the Home Office for a national response.
“Child sexual abuse is endemic in the UK and needs to be recognised as a national priority,” she said. “It is clear that the public distrusts governments and authorities when it comes to preventing and prosecuting child abuse, especially child sexual exploitation.”
She set out a five-point plan of recommendations including a national inquiry and a “national audit” to see if grooming gangs are still operating or cases have been missed.
Local inquiries lack the power to compel witnesses and would fail to satisfy the public’s concern about cover-ups, she said.
Triggers for such inquiries in local areas could be local councils or police referring themselves or an independent panel raising concerns.
Victim or survivor reports could also trigger an inquiry under the model, Ms Champion said.
Dan Carden, who represents Liverpool Walton, became the first Labour MP to back calls for a national inquiry at the weekend.
