Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jun 15, 2025

UK’s home secretary defends herself against allegations of being racist

UK’s home secretary defends herself against allegations of being racist

The UK’s home secretary has defended herself against allegations of being racist after her recent comments on grooming gangs, saying she spoke the “plain truth.”
Following her newspaper column published earlier in April, Home Secretary Suella Braverman was criticized after describing grooming gangs’ members as “groups of men, almost all British-Pakistani,” reported The Independent.

Braverman was quoted as saying that “accusing me of racism for speaking plain truths distorts the meaning of the term and does a great disservice to all of us working to combat racism.”

She said it was not racist to speak “plain truths,” but added that most British-Pakistani men are not perpetrators of sexual abuse.

Braverman said that she had briefly considered posing as a caller to a radio station to deny the allegations and defend herself against claims of racism.

She wrote in The Spectator that she intended to quote Margaret Thatcher, and said: “Last week a radio show had a phone-in asking listeners to debate whether I’m a racist… I thought about calling in as Margaret from Fareham, to suggest the home secretary take courage from another Margaret’s words: ‘I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.’”

The government published a review in 2020 that found members of child grooming gangs hailed from multiple backgrounds.

Commissioned by the Home Office, the review said most group child sex offenders were men under the age of 30, and the majority were white.

Braverman added in her column: “To say the overwhelming majority of perpetrators in towns such as Rotherham, Telford, and Rochdale were British-Pakistani and that their victims were white girls is not to say that most British-Pakistanis are perpetrators of sexual abuse.

“The former is a truth, one that made authorities reluctant to confront the issue. The latter is a lie, the speaking of which would be a disgraceful prejudice. I know that my motives will be questioned — such is a politician’s lot. But there are lines that we must not cross. If everything is racist, nothing is.”

Braverman also took aim at Labour for party leader Sir Keir Starmer’s attacks on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over law and order policy, and Starmer’s assertion that “99.9 percent of women” do not have male organs.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Former Welsh First Minister Addresses Unionist Concerns Over Irish Language
King Charles Leads Tribute to Air India Crash Victims at Trooping the Colour
Jack Pitchford Embarks on 200-Mile Walk to Support Stem Cell Charity
Surrey Hikers Take on Challenge of Climbing 11 Peaks in a Single Day
UK Deploys RAF Jets to Middle East Amid Israel-Iran Tensions
Two Skydivers Die in 'Tragic Accident' at Devon Airfield
Sainsbury's and Morrisons Accused of Displaying Prohibited Tobacco Ads
UK Launches National Inquiry into Grooming Gangs
Families Seek Closure After Air India Crash
Gold Emerges as Global Safe Haven Amid Uncertainty
Trump Reports $57 Million Earnings from Crypto Venture
Trump's Military Parade Sparks Concerns Over Authoritarianism
Nationwide 'No Kings' Protests Challenge Trump's Leadership
UK Deploys Jets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions
Trump's Anti-War Stance Tested Amid Israel-Iran Conflict
Germany Holds First Veterans Celebration Since WWII
U.S. Health Secretary Dismisses CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Overthrow of Khamenei Regime
HSBC Accelerates Chairman Succession as Mark Tucker Prepares Departure
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Cristina Kirchner Requests House Arrest Citing Assassination Risk
Beata Thunberg Rebrands as Beata Ernman Amidst Sister's Activism Controversy
Israel Issues Ultimatum to Iran Over Potential Retaliation and Nuclear Facilities
Black Box Recovered from Air India Crash Site
Sole Survivor of Air India Crash Recounts Escape
UK and EU Reach New Economic Agreement
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
Trump to Iran: Make a Deal — Sign or Die
Two Women Found Dead in Eryri National Park
Operation "Like a Lion": Israel Strikes Iran in Unprecedented Offensive
Pentagon Initiates Review of AUKUS Nuclear Submarine Pact
Meta to Invest $15 Billion in Scale AI to Advance AGI Goals
Rare Cancer Cases Triple Among Millennials, Alarming Doctors
G7 Finance Ministers Convene in Canada with Focus on Ukraine and Trade Tariffs
UK Spending Review Prioritizes Health and Defence Amid Budget Constraints
US Raises Security Concerns Over Proposed Chinese Embassy in London
Defined Benefit Pension Reforms Expected to Unlock Limited Investment
UK Industrial Strategy Launch Delayed Amid Budget Negotiations
Crick Institute Seeks Additional Funding to Attract International Scientists
Zia Yusuf Returns to Reform UK in New Role After Brief Resignation
Bezos's Lavish Venice Wedding Sparks Local Protests
US Urges UK to Raise Defence Spending to 5% of GDP
Europe Prepares for Historic Lunar Rover Landing
Italian Parents Seek Therapy Amid Lengthy School Holidays
British Fishing Vessel Seized by France Fined €30,000
Dutch Government Collapses Amid Migration Policy Dispute
Germany Moves to Expedite Migrant Deportations
UK Commits to 3.5% GDP Defence Spending Under NATO Pressure
Scientist Returns Royal Society Prize in Protest Over Elon Musk's Fellowship
×