Nadine Osman
In unprecedented mass condemnation, the UK’s Home Secretary has been dubbed “the most dangerous Tory politician of recent times” after she claimed members of sexual grooming gangs are “almost all British-Pakistani, who hold cultural attitudes completely incompatible with British values.”
Speaking ahead of announcing plans for a new police taskforce to tackle child sexual exploitation (CSE) on April 3, Suella Braverman also accused the police and Labour-run councils of turning “a blind eye” to networks of British Pakistani men targeting “vulnerable white English girls” out of “political correctness.”
Pakistan’s foreign office called her comments “discriminatory and xenophobic” and condemned Braverman’s remarks, which, painted a “highly misleading picture signalling the intent to target and treat British Pakistanis differently”.
“She fails to take note of the systemic racism and ghettoization of communities and omits to recognise the tremendous cultural, economic, and political contributions that British Pakistanis continue to make in British society.”
Braverman has also been urged to withdraw her “divisive” remarks by dozens of medical bodies, businesses, and Muslim community organisations, who wrote to Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to express “deep concern” at what they branded “irresponsible and divisive rhetoric” from the Home Secretary.
“We demand an apology from the Home Secretary and an honest commitment to meaningfully tackling this vital issue, which has ruined the lives of thousands of young people.”
They wrote that “words have consequences,” as demonstrated in 2014 when Boris Johnson’s comments on women in niqabs resembling letterboxes directly resulted in a 375% increase in hate crimes targeting Muslim women.
Braverman’s remarks were also criticised as factually inaccurate given that a Home Office-commissioned study in 2020 found that group-based CSE offenders are most commonly white males under 30.
Her own ministry’s report’s findings were pointed out to Braverman during the interview. However, she insisted that British Pakistani men “see women in a demeaned and illegitimate way and who pursue an outdated and frankly heinous approach in terms of the way they behave.”
Braverman’s comments have received a backlash on social media, with users saying the remarks will mislead the public and “incite violence against those with particular racial characteristics.”
The left-leaning press also slammed the Home Secretary. In a scathing opinion piece, Darren Lewis, Assistant Editor of the Daily Mirror, called Braverman the “most dangerous Tory politician of recent times.”
He accused her of weaponizing her colour to “prevent those uncomfortable with doing so from challenging her bigotry.” He cited the conflicting Home Office report as an example of Braverman not letting facts “get in the way of good scaremongering.”
On her motivation, The Guardian said in its editorial that her recklessness should not be mistaken for carelessness. “It is a strategy. She doesn’t do nuance, accuracy, or thoughtfulness. She does what advances the cause closest to her heart—becoming the leader of the Conservative Party.”
The paper scathingly said, “She was a second-rate attorney general who politicised a post that used to be strictly advisory. As Home Secretary under Liz Truss, she cast herself as an alpha-achiever who would get small boats stopped, suspects searched and arrested, and protesters cleared away.”
Adding that “After six weeks, with none of it achieved, she had to resign. Six days later, after promising her support to Rishi Sunak in the ensuing leadership contest, she returned to the Home Office, and the sadistic rhetoric resumed.”
Medical professionals from the British Indian, British Ugandan, British Nigerian, and British Bengali communities also drew attention to cuts in the public sector, which they argued had increased young people’s “vulnerability” while “reducing access to support for CSE”.
“Facts are being conveniently overlooked and replaced with discriminatory and racist scapegoating,” the letter read. It was co-signed by several surgeons, psychiatrists, and nurses, including the British Indian Psychiatrist Association and the Nigerian Nurses Charitable Association UK.
The Muslim Council of Britain also urged the government to “adhere to the facts of the matter, rather than deploying deeply divisive, racially charged rhetoric that amplifies far-right narratives and demonises an entire community”.
And the Muslim Women’s Network, which has worked with Asian victims of child sexual exploitation, said Braverman’s “approach…of demonising an entire community and lending credibility to far-right narratives undermines the need to ensure all victims of CSE are protected and all perpetrators are brought to justice”.
Braverman’s comments were also slammed by former Conservative Party Chair, Baroness Warsi, who in a column for the Guardian called on Rishi Sunak not to be “remembered for presiding over a government that engaged in racist rhetoric”.
She said whether the barrister trained Braverman’s “consistent use of racist rhetoric is strategy or incompetence” is irrelevant, as “both show she is not fit to hold high office.”
Warsi, who has previously described Braverman as a “Trump tribute act,” added that criticising Braverman’s “language is not about shutting down important debate about policy or being culturally sensitive. It’s about demanding a Home Secretary who makes policy announcements that are accurate and based on fact and evidence, which Braverman has failed to do.”
Braverman’s claims were, however, supported in a joint statement from UK Sikh and Hindu faith groups. The letter praised Braverman for “courageously speaking out about the overrepresentation of British Pakistani men in sex grooming gangs”.
The letter, signed by crossbench peer Lord Singh of Wimbledon, said it was “false to label all Pakistani Muslim men as groomers,” but politicians should not “allow political correctness to stifle obtaining justice for victims by addressing the actions of a minority.”
Following the backlash, the Home Office released a statement defending Braverman’s stance by insisting that “she will not shy away from telling hard truths, particularly when it comes to the grooming of young women and girls in Britain’s towns who have been failed by authorities over decades.”
“As the Home Secretary has said, the vast majority of British-Pakistanis are law-abiding, upstanding citizens, but independent reports were unequivocal that in towns like Rochdale, Rotherham, and Telford, cultural sensitivities have meant thousands of young girls were abused under the noses of councils and police.
That’s why we have announced a raft of measures, including a new police taskforce and mandatory reporting, to ensure this horrific scandal can never happen again and bring members of grooming gangs to justice for the victims.”
Photo: Suella Braverman, the UK Home Secretary, is under fire for suggesting that members of sexual grooming gangs are “almost all British-Pakistani” and are culturally wired to do so.
(Credit: Wiktor Szymanowicz/AA)
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