Suella Braverman accuses Labour of overlooking child grooming in case they are called racist

Suella Braverman has accused Labour councillors of failing to act against child sexual abuse by gangs of Pakistani men because of fears of being called racist.

The Home Secretary said teachers, social workers and police officers of “turning a blind eye” to abuse of young girls in places like Rotherham and Rochdale, because they did not want to be labelled bigoted.

And she suggested some Pakistani communities had shielded abuses, saying there had been a “communal shutting down in some areas”.

Warning that “silence has enabled this abuse”, Ms Braverman announced a new mandatory duty on childcare professionals to report when they become aware of concerns relating to child sexual abuse.

Asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg why she was blaming others when the Conservatives have been in power for 13 years, she said: “If we want to get political about it, I didn’t want to get political about it, some of these councillors in Labour-run areas over a period of years have absolutely failed to take action because of cultural sensitivities, not wanting to come across as racist, not wanting to call out people along ethnic lines.

“Justice hasn’t been done for these victims.”

She said: “What we’ve seen is a large-scale problem, I would call it one of the largest scandals in recent British history.

“In towns around the country, vulnerable white girls who have been living in troubled circumstances or challenging situations have been abused, drugged, raped by networks of gangs of rapists.

“We have to be honest about the fact that some of these gangs have been overwhelmingly British Pakistani male.

“The authorities, whether that’’s social workers or teachers or police officers when they’ve become aware of these problems have turned a blind eye and they have roundly failed to take the requisite action and safeguard these vulnerable girls.

“Many of these victims have not secured justice. We therefore need to change the system.”

Asked whether Pakistani communities should share the blame for not reporting the offences, Ms Braverman said there has been a “communal shutting down in these areas”.

She added: “The fault lies with the perpetrators for carrying out these heinous and vile acts of depravity, but also the authorities.

“There’s been a social ignorance, there’s been a willful turning of the blind eye. There’s been a failure to act, silence has enabled this abuse and we need to make sure there’s a duty and an obligation on those professionals that they can’t get away with inaction.”

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Braverman said authorities often failed to report cases because of “political correctness”.

When challenged that a Home Office report in 2020 found grooming gangs were most commonly white, she said there had been several reports about the “predominance of certain ethnic groups, and I say British-Pakistani males, who hold cultural values totally at odds with British values”.

In a wide-ranging interview, the Home Secretary refused repeatedly to say whether she still supported the Tories’ previous commitment to bring down immigration to the tens of thousands.

Ms Braverman also refused to confirm that flights to Rwanda would begin by the summer, saying merely that they would happen as soon as possible. She also insisted the country was safe, despite evidence that refugees had been shot by police in 2018.

And she would not put a date on when the government would “stop the small boats” coming across the Channel.

Ms Braverman also denied that delays at Dover were connected with Brexit.