Braverman slaps down Labour ‘dog whistle’ grooming allegations
Suella Braverman pushes back at ‘dog whistle’ politics allegation
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has slapped down a senior Labour figure who accused the Government’s new campaign against Asian grooming gangs of being “dog whistle” politics. Former MP and Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, made the comments on the BBC yesterday.
Speaking on the Laura Kuenessberg show on Sunday Morning, Mayor Brabin said: “It does feel like it’s very headline, it’s very dog whistle – If I may say – and it doesn’t actually deal with what’s on the ground.”
Asked to respond to the allegations, Home Secretary Suella Braverman told GB News tonight: “It’s not racist to tell the truth about what has been going on here in Rochdale, or in Rotherham or in Telford.”
“Local reviews and reports have confirmed that the grooming gangs scandal that has gone on here has been perpetrated by largely British Pakistani men.
“Now it’s important not to demonise a whole community and the vast majority of British Pakistanis are law-abiding and straightforward people.
“But it is also clear to say that in these towns – and I’ve met victims today who’ve confirmed as much, bearing out their own experience – that there have been cultural trends in the practices we’ve seen, and authorities and professionals have turned a blind eye out of fear of being called racist.
“Political correctness can no longer be an obstacle to taking action.”
The GB News interview came during Nigel Farage’s daily show on the channel, which raised the question of whether the Government’s tough talk will lead to action.
Mr Farage did praise the Home Secretary and Prime Minister’s decision not to shy away from specifying the problem of Pakistani grooming gangs out of fear of political correctness.
The former Brexit Party leader told viewers we wouldn’t have seen this sort of language under Boris Johnson, Theresa May or David Cameron and said “they are, now, really starting to talk tough”.
He noted his scepticism, however, over the planned child grooming Taskforce, saying it reminded him of “the days of Tony Blair”.
Nigel Farage said with the small boats crisis, it will take proof of outcomes before the public politically rewards the government for this latest initiative.
This morning’s announcement on the Grooming Gangs Taskforce by the Government was hailed a victory for GB News, who just two months ago released an investigatory documentary about the scandal, called “Grooming Gangs: Britain’s Shame”.
The investigation by reporter Charlie Peters called for a Taskforce to deal with the scandal and aid local police forces.
Speaking to Nigel Farage this evening, investigative reporter Charlie Peters said that “survivors and campaigners I spoke to this morning described the situation as one of ‘cautious optimism’, and I do share that”.
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“I think the reason why I have such strong views on these policies are – as you note – I think they’re directly lifted from the recommendations we made in that documentary two months ago.
“The NCA-supported Taskforce is something that we’ve been calling for at GB News for a while now, and though, Nigel, you suggested it has kind of ‘Blairite’ connotations, the National Crime Agency has been absolutely vital in securing justice for grooming gang survivors in Rotherham where they have secure hundred of more survivors accessing support, and many more prosecutions and convictions.”
Nigel Farage said of Mr Peters: “I think you’ve done an absolutely brilliant job.”.
“You have shifted this agenda on, and we’ll watch over the course of the next months and years to see just how much of a difference it makes.”
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