Suella Braverman has defended a historic claim on Pakistani grooming gangs after it was labelled "offensive" and "misleading" by the UK's press regulator.
The former Home Secretary received a complaint after she wrote in 2023 that UK child grooming gangs were made up of "almost all British-Pakistani men".
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) instructed the Mail on Sunday to publish a correction to an opinion piece that Braverman wrote on the national scandal, concluding that a "direct link between the identified ethnic group and a particular form of offending" was "misleading" where it was not made clear that this referred specifically to the abuse scandals in Rotherham, Rochdale and Telford.
Following Sir Keir Starmer's announcement of a full-scale national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal, the Tory MP has accused "the Establishment" of dodging the truth.
Suella Braverman has defended a claim on Pakistani grooming gangs she made back in 2023, which was labelled 'offensive' and 'misleading'
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Taking to X, Braverman wrote: "Too many from across the Establishment have been happy to hide from facts that have been staring us in the face for years.
"The truth isn’t racist."
The original complaint was brought by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM), an external part of the Muslim Council of Britain, which campaigns for "fair, accurate and responsible reporting of Islam and Muslims".
Then, an open letter signed by 50 researchers and more than a dozen organisations, including the NSPCC and Victim Support was sent to Braverman and then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Each signatory urged Braverman and Sunak to avoid narratives on abuse based on "misinformation, racism and division".
Suella Braverman reposted a social media post urging Ipso to retract the ruling
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Braverman received the backlash after she described the "systematic rape, abuse and exploitation of young girls by organised gangs of older men" and the failure of people in authority to act as a "stain on our country".
She reposted a social media post urging Ipso to retract the ruling in light of recent findings.
On Saturday, the Prime Minister announced he will hold the national inquiry recommended by Baroness Casey of Blackstock, who was asked to carry out a national audit by the Government earlier this year.
Starmer said that the inquiry will be statutory, which means it will have powers to compel witnesses to give evidence and is independent of the Government, and is understood that the probe will coordinate the local inquiries that are already underway.
Baroness Casey discusses national inquiry with GB NewsGB NEWSBraverman welcomed the announcement and said that she is sure "it will expose the cause of this injustice and the failures of those who have let down the victims. The evidence that I have seen is compelling".
The Conservative MP for Fareham and Waterlooville claimed a task force set up when she was Home Secretary in 2023, resulted in hundreds of arrests and thousands of girls being safeguarded.
She warned that the inquiry must not be slow, citing the amount of time the Grenfell and Covid Inquiry have taken to conduct.
Braverman added: "The victims deserve justice now. Operational policing, the CPS and the judiciary should be working intensively to secure justice for victims."
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