The Prime Minister has said he would not use Kemi Badenoch’s language describing grooming gang perpetrators as “peasants” from “sub-communities” in some countries, Downing Street has said.
The Tory leader is facing criticism, with her comments branded “shockingly offensive and irresponsible”. She was accused of not putting the victims “front and centre” and instead using the issue “as an excuse to push their own agenda”. Ms Badenoch has been calling for a national inquiry into the scandal, despite last week admitting she hadn’t even met any victims.
Asked if Keir Starmer agreed with Ms Badenoch’s description of grooming gangs as “peasants” from “sub-communities” in some countries, the PM’s official spokesman said: “I don’t think that’s language he would use.” Asked why, he said: “It’s not language he’s used, or indeed, I’d envisage him using.”
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Speaking to GB News on Monday night, Ms Badenoch said: “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, particular class background, work background. You know, people [who are] very, very poor, sort of peasant background, very, very rural, almost cut off from even the home origin countries that they might have been in. They’re not necessarily first generation. The jobs that they were doing… allowed them to exhibit this predatory behaviour.”
It comes as a handful of Labour MPs broke ranks to call for a national inquiry into grooming gangs. Sarah Champion, the Labour MP for Rotherham, who has been a longtime campaigner on the sexual abuse of women and girls, said she had been convinced of the need for a national investigation. Ms Champion 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.
Her concern was echoed by Paul Waugh, the Labour MP for Rochdale, where one of the most notorious child sexual exploitation cases of recent years happened. He backed a national inquiry if “that’s what victims want”. Dan Carden, who represents Liverpool Walton, became the first Labour MP to back calls for a national inquiry at the weekend.
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. It said that victims want action and do not want to have to go through giving testimonies again in a year-long probe.
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. During weeks of controversial debate, Mr Starmer accused Ms Badenoch of jumping on the “bandwagon” after years of not raising the issue while in power. The PM, who has maintained that victims need action not more inquiries, also hit out at her over “lies and misinformation and slinging of mud” which did not help victims of child sexual abuse.
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It came after Ms Badenoch dramatically failed to sabotage the government’s child welfare legislation in a bid to get another national inquiry into grooming gangs. Her official spokesman last week admitted she had not met any victims of grooming gangs despite insisting her newly found passion was in the name of victims. This morning she said she had now met survivors.
Green Party Co-Leader Carla Denyer criticised Ms Badenoch’s latest comments. “These comments are shockingly offensive and irresponsible,” she said. “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. 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.”
Veteran Labour MP Diane wrote on social media: “Gross opportunism by Kemi Badenoch. Claiming concern about grooming gangs now. But as shadow Minister for Women she never mentioned the issue in Parliament once.”