Kemi Badenoch has attributed the grooming gangs scandal to individuals from “peasant backgrounds” and “sub-communities” within certain foreign countries.

The Conservative leader reiterated her call for a national inquiry, emphasizing the need to investigate “two cultural issues” – the origins of the perpetrators and what she termed a “culture of silence.”

Speaking to GB News, Mrs. Badenoch stated, “There are two cultural issues which I believe have been identified. One is on the perpetrators’ side – where do these abusers come from? There’s a lot of misinformation, there’s a lot of generalisation, many innocent people end up being grouped in with them.

“But 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. People very, very poor, a 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, taxi drivers, jobs which allowed them to exhibit this predatory behaviour. That is just one side.”

Mrs. Kemi Badenoch also highlighted the “culture of silence” that she believes has allowed the issue to persist, describing it as a “culture of ‘move along, nothing to see here.’”

She called for a national inquiry to address both aspects simultaneously. (Vanguard)