Kemi Badenoch interviewed by GB News (Image: GB News)
Kemi Badenoch has blasted from “peasant” backgrounds as she vowed to continue fighting for a national inquiry.
The Conservative Party leader, in an explosive interview with GB News, also said she doesn’t “care” if people claim she is “jumping on a far-right bandwagon”.
Mrs Badenoch said a public probe into the abuse of thousands of young girls, mainly by Pakistani men, will help expose failings in the police, social services and politics.
The Tory leader told GB News: “One of the things that young women have told me is that they think it is still happening, that they have parents contacting them now who are saying ‘this is happening to my daughter.
Keir Starmer is under intense pressure to launch a national inquiry into grooming gangs (Image: Getty)
“There are two cultural issues which I believe have been identified. One is on the perpetrator side. Where do these abusers come from?
“If you look at it, 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.”
Asked what that background was, Mrs Badenoch said: “People from a 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.”
She also referred to “the jobs that they were doing,” such as being taxi drivers, “which allowed them to exhibit this predatory behavior.”
She added: “I don’t care what people call me, whether they say I’m jumping on a far-right bandwagon or that I’m just doing it for politics.
“This is something that I’ve been talking about for a while.
“This is an issue I personally care about. I have been a young girl. I’ve been a young woman. I have two daughters. This stuff terrifies me.
“I don’t keep quiet when I see something that’s going wrong.
“Whether it was with getting justice for postmasters, whether it was stopping rapists from being put in women’s prisons … whether it was stopping mostly gay autistic children from being sterilized under the cover of trans when they needed different help.”
Taking aim at the gangs, she said: “There are some places where when people behave in that way, a mob turns up and burns their homes down, and then they know that they can’t do that sort of thing.
“What for me is most extraordinary about this case is that clearly these people thought that they could get away with it. That is the thing that we should be looking at.”
The explosive interview comes after the Labour MP for Rotherham has called for a national inquiry into grooming gangs, calling child sexual abuse in the UK “endemic”.
Sarah Champion called for a nationwide inquiry that would be led locally and probe the failings of authorities over grooming gangs.
She 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.”Child sexual abuse is endemic in the UK and needs to be recognised as a national priority,” she said.
“It is clear that the public distrusts governments and authorities when it comes to preventing and prosecuting child abuse, especially child sexual exploitation.”
She set out a five-point plan of recommendations including a national inquiry and a “national audit” to see if grooming gangs are still operating or cases have been missed.
Local inquiries lack the power to compel witnesses and would fail to satisfy the public’s concern of cover-ups, she said.
Triggers for such inquiries in local areas could be local councils or police referring themselves or an independent panel raising concerns.
Victim or survivor reports could also trigger an inquiry under the model, Ms Champion said.
Pressure has mounted on the Prime Minister to launch an inquiry specifically into grooming gangs since billionaire posted a slew of attacks on him over the issue at the start of the year.
Dan Carden, who represents Liverpool Walton, became the first Labour MP to back calls for a national inquiry at the weekend.
Downing Street agreed that Ms Champion’s views on the matter carry weight given her extensive experience on the issue.
But the Government will be “guided and led by the victims and survivors” on what action it takes, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.
So far, Sir has resisted calls for a new inquiry, saying the Government will focus on implementing the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) chaired by Professor Alexis Jay.
Ms Champion urged the Government to set out a timetable to implement the recommendations and ringfence resources to do so.
She also called for a review of whether the law is fit for purpose to protect children and prosecute child abusers.
Ms Champion said: “Having worked widely with victims and survivors, and frontline professionals, I have long believed that we need to fully understand the nature of this crime and the failures in the response of public bodies if we are to truly protect children.
“It is clear that nothing less than a national inquiry into the failings of those in authority to both prevent, and be accountable for their failings, in relation to grooming gangs will restore the faith in our safeguarding systems.”
Prof Jay had produced a report on grooming gangs in Rotherham in 2014 before chairing the national IICSA, which reported in 2022.
That inquiry published a 200-page supplemental report specifically on abuse by organised networks.
Prof Jay has previously said that she would not be in favour of another national inquiry, warning it would delay implementation of her recommendations.