Badenock blames abuse by grooming gangs on people with ‘farming background’
Kemi Badenoch blames the grooming gang scandal on people with “peasant backgrounds” from some foreign “sub-communities”.
The Conservative leader reiterated his call for a national inquiry and said “two cultural issues” should be investigated: where abusers come from and the “culture of silence”.
Her comments came as pressure continues to mount on Sir Keir Starmer as some of his MPs back a new statutory inquiry.
Mrs Badnock told UK News: “I think two cultural issues have been identified.
“There are people taking the side of the abusers: Where do these abusers come from? There’s a lot of misinformation, there’s a lot of generalizations, and a lot of innocent people end up being lumped together.
“But if you look closely, you can see a systematic pattern of behavior, not just from one country, but from sub-communities within those countries.
“People with a certain background, a certain class background, work background. People who are very, very poor, from peasant backgrounds, very, very rural, almost isolated from whatever country they might be in.
“They’re not necessarily first generation. The jobs they do, taxi drivers, those jobs allow them to exhibit this predatory behavior. That’s just one aspect.
The Prime Minister insisted there was no need for another inquiry following the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in October 2022, led by Professor Alexis Jay. Conduct review.
But some Labor figures have now joined the Conservatives and UK reformists in calling for another inquiry.
Sarah Champion, MP for beauty hotspot Rotherham, said public trust in police and local authorities could be restored “as long as there is a national inquiry into the failings of those in power, preventing their mistakes and holding them to account” Confidence in Parliament.
Her intervention came just hours after Paul Waugh, the Labor MP for Rochdale, another beauty hotspot, said he would support the investigation if it had the support of victims and did not interfere with police on-site investigations.
Ms Badenock also said the second problem was a “culture of silence” and “a culture of ‘move on, there’s nothing to see here'”.
“The national survey needs to look at both cultural issues,” she said.
The government had previously rejected a national review in favor of a locally-led inquiry, saying it was focused on implementing the recommendations in Professor Jay’s report.
The grooming ring scandal has attracted international attention in recent weeks after tech billionaire Elon Musk launched a series of attacks on the prime minister over the issue earlier this year.
On Monday, Downing Street reiterated its position that Sir Keir opposed an inquiry because it would last too long and undermine the need to follow up on the findings of previous child sex abuse reports.
However, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said Ms Champion’s views “absolutely” have weight and “we will be guided and led by victims and survivors on this”, suggesting that position could change.
