Sajid Javid has ordered research into the ethnic origin of sexual grooming gangs
Sajid Javid has ordered research into the ethnic origin of sexual grooming gangs, it was reported last night.
The Home Secretary apparently wants to discover why men convicted of group sex crimes are disproportionately of Pakistani origin.
Mr Javid, whose family roots are in Pakistan, said exploring the ‘particular characteristics’ of offenders was ‘critical to our understanding’ of what happened across the country, including in Newcastle, Telford and Rotherham.
He revealed the plan in a letter to Sarah Champion, according to The Times. She is the Labour MP who has come under fire for highlighting the issues. Mr Javid, who in 2014 became the first British-Pakistani MP to lead a Whitehall department, defended Miss Champion last night.
He said: ‘MPs should be able to do their job without being threatened or intimated in any way. Sarah Champion has my full support’. He also gave her his backing last August when she was forced to resign from the Shadow Cabinet for her comments.
‘We need an honest, open debate on child exploitation, including racial motivation’, he said at the time. Miss Champion is chairman of a cross-party working group of MPs. whose constituencies have been affected by the exploitation and grooming of young girls by organised offending networks.
They told Mr Javid in May that they were ‘alarmed by the similarities in cases across the country’ and called for research into ‘common patterns of behaviour’.
In a response published on Miss Champion’s website, Mr Javid told her that the Government ‘attached the highest priority to tackling child sexual exploitation’. He said: ‘My officials have been working with investigating officers, and with the National Crime Agency, to establish the particular characteristics and contexts associated with this type of offending. If there is a need for further research, we will take it forward.’
Sarah Champion was accused by activists of ‘industrial-scale racism’ for highlighting the ‘common ethnic heritage’ of those involved in Rotherham’s sexual abuse scandal
Miss Champion’s friends have claimed hard-Left and Muslim opponents are trying to force her from office and ruin her reputation. Leading members of the town’s Pakistani community allegedly want a Muslim member of Rotherham council to replace her if she is deselected or quits.
But politicians from the main parties showed their support for her yesterday. Barry Sheerman, Labour MP for Huddersfield, said that it was a ‘shameful and disgusting campaign against a courageous and remarkable woman’.
John Mann, another Labour MP, praised Miss Champion for ‘calling the Rotherham scandal out for what it is’. Margot James, Tory minister for digital and the creative industries, said attempts to smear Miss Champion were ‘fundamentally wrong and appalling’.
A Home Office spokesman said that although the Government ‘has always been clear that child sexual exploitation is not exclusive to any single culture, community, race or religion, political or cultural sensitivities must not get in the way’ of tackling child abuse’.