Kemi Badenoch has blamed ‘peasant’ immigrants from impoverished parts of foreign countries for the grooming gangs problem.
The Tory leader suggested problems came from ‘sub-communities’ within nations that were ‘very rural’.
In an interview with GB News, she said examining the cultural issues was one of the main reasons she backed a national inquiry.
‘One is on the perpetrators’ side: where do these abusers come from? There’s a lot of misinformation, there’s a lot of generalisation and many innocent people will end up being grouped in with them,’ she said.
‘But there is a systematic pattern of behaviour, not even just from one country, but from sub-communities within those countries.
‘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 comments were branded ‘shocking’ by the Greens, while Labour MP Diane Abbott said Ms Badenoch was showing ‘gross opportunism’.
No 10 said PM Keir Starmer would not use the same language.
Sir Keir and Ms Badenoch have often disagreed over demands for a national investigation.
The Government has so far knocked back calls for a national review in favour of locally-led inquiries.
The PM has claimed that the emphasis should be on enforcing recommendations from Professor Alexis Jay’s 2022 report.
The problem reappeared at the beginning of the year after US entrepreneur Elon Musk issued a series of criticisms directed at the PM.
Mrs Badenoch said a national inquiry would shine a light on the truth and hold people to account.
‘This is about those victims who deserve justice,’ she said.
‘The survivors who deserve justice by making sure that every single perpetrator we can find is caught and brought to justice, and those who failed in their duty to protect their children are held to account and exposed.’
Ms Badenoch’s remarks followed the Rotherham Labour MP’s support for a nationwide investigation into gang grooming.
Sarah Champion called for a nationwide inquiry that would 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 places that trigger the threshold for greater scrutiny.
After that, the results would be sent back to the Home Office for a nationwide reaction.
‘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.’
This should have been resolved years ago, but it wasn’t because our leadership felt—and still feels—the need to appease some segments of our society.
They should have been packed up and shipped out.
And it wasn’t dealt with because certain people, and they know who they are were well-known groomers targeting vulnerable children.
Rape is one of the many things they did to these children. They also tortured and mutilated them. Some will never be able to have children of their own and some have killed themselves. Numerous more horror stories have not been revealed, yet Labour will not sanction a National Inquiry with powers of arrest. And we need to ask ourselves why.
Tony Blair should take part of the blame, but the truth is that the previous Conservative administration often discussed implementing a points-based system, but it never happened.
We did once in the UK have a flock of pristine sheep, but now we have wolves that roam among us.
The British public is being told that their views are racist if they make any remarks about someone else’s beliefs or culture, this is why some behaviours have gone unchallenged, and misogynistic cultures have been permitted to thrive.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 