Health Secretary Wes Streeting has defended Cabinet colleague Lucy Powell after she described grooming gangs as a "dog whistle" during a BBC Radio 4 debate.
The Leader of the House of Commons is reportedly "mortified" over her remarks made on Friday's Any Questions programme.
Streeting said Powell had "rightly apologised" for what he described as a "genuine mistake" in her response to Reform UK's Tim Montgomerie.
Speaking on GB News, Streeting said: "She's rightly apologised for what she said on Radio 4 on Friday night, and said, you know, she made a genuine mistake.
Wes Streeting defended the Labour MP for her comments
GB NEWS
"She shouldn't have said what she said to Tim Montgomerie. It wasn't the right response to the fair and reasonable points he was making.
"Because she's human and we all make mistakes. I've been in those debate formats before, where sometimes, in the heat of the moment, you say something you didn't mean, or it comes across in a way you didn't intend, and you really wish you hadn’t said it."
Camilla Tominey responded: "No, hang on a minute. She turned to Tim Montgomerie, who you and I both know is quite a moderate right-winger, pointed at him, and accused him of dog-whistle politics simply because he raised, quite legitimately, the Grooming Gangs documentary on Channel 4.
"How on earth is that a mistake? It's precisely that attitude that allowed large numbers of largely Pakistani men to rape white teenage girls in this country for years."
Streeting replied: "Well, there's no doubt and I think the Alexis Jay Report, Dame Louise Casey's work, and others have highlighted this, that cultural and ethnic factors have been a part of why these crimes weren’t properly investigated or reported.
"That's one of the reasons this Government is ensuring that we are recording ethnicity data, not just for future offences, but for past ones as well.
"We've asked every police force in England and Wales to reopen cases where 'no further action' was previously recommended, to take another look and make sure no stone is left unturned.
We've also given victims the chance to go to an independent panel if they feel their case wasn’t properly investigated. That’s especially relevant for historic cases that have now been reopened.
"So yes, we do take this really seriously. We're not afraid to point out where there have been specific ethnic patterns in certain crimes. We're not leaving any stone unturned."
Powell's controversial comments came when she was asked whether she had seen Channel 4's documentary on grooming gangs.
Labour's Lucy Powell made the comments on Radio 4 on Friday
PAShe responded dismissively: "Oh we want to blow that little trumpet do we. Let's get that little dog whistle out."
The Manchester MP made the remarks during a heated exchange with Tim Montgomerie on the BBC Radio 4 programme.
Powell quickly attempted to "clarify" her remarks following the backlash. She tweeted: "I would like to clarify that I regard issues of child exploitation and grooming with the utmost seriousness. I'm sorry if this was unclear."
The Cabinet minister added: "I was challenging the political point scoring around it, not the issue itself. As a constituency MP, I've dealt with horrendous cases."
