Jeremy Corbyn ‘wrong to sack' Sarah Champion over Sun article on British Pakistani men, says Sajid Javid

Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, has said Jeremy Corbyn was "wrong to sack" his shadow equalities minister after she wrote an article saying: “Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls”.

Speaking a week after 18 people were convicted of involvement in a grooming gang in Newcastle, Mr Javid also insisted that there needed to be an “honest, open debate” about child abuse, “including racial motivation”.

On Wednesday Sarah Champion, the Labour MP for Rotherham, resigned from her frontbench role and apologised for any offence caused by “the extremely poor choice of words” she used in an a column for The Sun. Ms Champion, who has been an outspoken defender of abuse victims, added she was concerned her continued position in Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet “would distract from the crucial issues around child protection I have campaigned for my entire political career”.

The Labour leader added that he thought she was “right to step down”, adding in an interview with LBC Radio: “In her words, she said, her continued presence would be a distraction. “We cannot demonise whole communities or whole groups of people because of the actions of some people.”

But on his Twitter account Mr Javid, the first British Pakistani MP to run a government department, said: “Corbyn wrong to sack Sarah Champion. We need an honest open debate on child sexual exploitation, including racial motivation.”

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Yasmin Qureshi, the shadow justice minister, repeatedly refused to be drawn on whether it was right that Ms Champion stepped down, adding: “I think you need to ask Sarah that question.”

Ms Champion's column for The Sun, published on Friday, ran under the provocative headline “British Pakistani men ARE raping and exploiting white girls – and it’s time we faced up to it.”

She was, however, criticised for the piece by her colleagues, with one describing it as “irresponsible” for making “blanket, radicalised, loaded statements” that would set up stigmatised Pakistani boys to fail.

In an attempt to respond to the criticism, Ms Champion issued a statement four days after the article’s publication, claiming the newspaper had altered aspects of the piece, including the opening sentences – an allegation The Sun dismissed.

A spokesperson for the newspaper added: “Sarah Champion’s column, as it appeared on Friday, was approved by her team and her adviser twice contacted us thereafter to say she was ‘thrilled’ with the piece and it ‘looked great’”.

More than 100 MPs and peers, including Ms Champion, later complained about “Nazi-like” language in The Sun following a comment piece by Trevor Kavanagh in which he asked what could be done about “the Muslim Problem”.