"they were mostly peasant farmers"
Kemi Badenoch defended her comments blaming Pakistani “peasants” for the abuse committed by grooming gangs.
The Conservative Party leader faced criticism for her comments, with Downing Street saying it was not language Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would use.
But Ms Badenoch insisted she would not be “shy” when discussing the issue.
She said: “The point I was making there was about a specific report on that community of people who are predominant in the rape gangs.
“They did come from a particular place where they were mostly peasant farmers, they were insular, even from the rest of Pakistan, they’re not like the people in Lahore.
“I hear a lot of people talk about Asian grooming gangs, about Pakistani grooming gangs, a lot of people are being blamed, a lot of innocent people who happen to share characteristics are being blamed, so let’s be specific.”
Ms Badenoch has repeatedly clashed with the Prime Minister over calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
She also said “evil habits” have grown from people who have come to the UK from a “particular region and sub-community in Pakistan”.
Kemi Badenoch continued: “The (immigration) numbers we have seen over the last few decades mean that we are getting people having separate and insular communities.
“The most extreme example of this is what we saw with the rape gangs where people who’ve been coming to this country, from the 60s, from a particular region and sub-community in Pakistan, get here, stay insular, not interested in integration.
“And then you start seeing very very toxic, I would say evil habits propagating and no one doing anything about it because they’re separate.
“We have to make sure that we have a dominant culture in our country, and the people who move here want to help make the UK a better place.
“Our country’s not a hotel, it’s not a dormitory, this is our home.”
The government has previously rejected calls for a national review in favour of locally-led inquiries, saying it is focused on implementing recommendations from Professor Alexis Jay’s 2022 report on the issue.
The issue gained international attention after tech billionaire Elon Musk posted a slew of attacks aimed at the Prime Minister over the issue at the start of 2025.
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