Some immigrants who come to the UK have “backward, frankly medieval attitudes to women”, Robert Jenrick has said.
The Shadow Justice Secretary said: “We have seen millions of people enter the UK in recent years and some of them have backward, frankly medieval attitudes to women.
“We are talking here about thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of vulnerable young girls being tortured and raped.
“I will not disguise or sanitise my language simply to ensure that some people are not offended.”
A row over grooming gangs has erupted following interventions by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
The Tesla boss has repeatedly taken aim at Sir Keir for his handling of the scandal while director of public prosecutions.
Mr Jenrick claimed Pakistani men are “over-represented in those who are involved in the grooming gangs”.
He added: “What I have said is that millions of people have come into our country in recent times, but some of them are coming from countries and cultures that have backwards attitudes to women.
“And that’s backed up by the evidence that we have seen from the Jay Report and the testimonies of the victims.
“Pakistani men are over-represented in those who are involved in the grooming gangs, and the evidence we have seen is that some of those have specifically preyed upon white, working-class girls because they viewed them as worthless.
“We can’t dismiss that and I’m not going to sanitise or tip-toe around this issue.”
Professor Alexis Jay’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found a lack of data meant it was “impossible to know whether any particular ethnic group is over-represented as perpetrators of child sexual exploitation by networks”.
The Prof said the row over calls for a new national inquiry into child sexual abuse is “distracting from the issues”.
Meanwhile the victims minister was unable to provide a timeline for implementing the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, saying the Government was working “quickly”.
Alex Davies-Jones told Times Radio: “I can’t give you a timeline but what I can tell you is we are working very, very quickly.
“A lot of these recommendations can be implemented quickly. As you heard from the Home Secretary yesterday, we’ve already begun that work and some of those new offences that have been announced will be in our Crime and Policing Bill brought in later this year.”
Adding that the Government would provide “more information soon”, she said: “I want to do this as quickly as possible. It’s very complicated, this is not a quick fix overnight.”
