- Suella Braverman falsely claimed in a Mail on Sunday article that child grooming gangs in the UK were predominantly British-Pakistani, leading to a ruling by the press regulator Ipso that the statement was false.
- Despite prior verification with government advisers, the Mail on Sunday had to issue an apology and correction for publishing inaccurate information, with Ipso citing Home Office research showing that grooming gang offenders were primarily from white backgrounds.
A ruling by the press regulator, Ipso, has determined that Suella Braverman made false claims in an article published by the Mail on Sunday. In this article, the home secretary falsely asserted that child grooming gangs in the UK were “almost all British-Pakistani.” She singled out British-Pakistani men, alleging their involvement in child sexual abuse due to what she described as “cultural attitudes completely incompatible with British values.” Braverman’s claims went further, asserting that these attitudes had gone largely unchallenged within their communities and by wider society.
Ipso has compelled the Mail on Sunday to issue an apology and correction for Braverman’s article after finding that her statement was inaccurate. The regulator deemed that linking “the identified ethnic group and a particular form of offending” was significantly misleading, especially in light of Home Office research, which found that offenders were primarily from white backgrounds.
In its defense, the Mail on Sunday argued that it had verified Braverman’s statements with advisers to the home secretary and the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, prior to publication. Both high-level government teams confirmed that they had no concerns about the statement and approved its publication.
Despite these behind-the-scenes discussions, Ipso concluded that the Mail on Sunday had published inaccurate information as fact. This unusual situation led to the newspaper printing a factual correction to a comment article authored by a prominent cabinet minister.
Home Office research from 2020 indicated that offenders are most commonly of white ethnicity and come from diverse backgrounds. The Mail on Sunday argued against relying on this report, citing its publication during a different home secretary’s tenure and the report’s claim that drawing conclusions about the ethnicity of offenders was challenging due to limited research and poor data collection.
Braverman’s advisers later explained that they singled out British-Pakistanis in the article due to high-profile grooming gang cases in Rotherham, Rochdale, and Telford, where the ethnicity of the perpetrators was evident. They chose not to consider offenders as a whole.
The complaint against the Mail on Sunday was filed by the Centre for Media Monitoring, an affiliate of the Muslim Council of Britain, which has previously used the regulatory system to secure corrections from British newspapers.
Recent Investigations Point to Alarming Consequences of Grooming Gang Discourse. In a troubling development, mounting evidence suggests a concerning correlation between the narrative surrounding grooming gangs and acts of violence targeting Muslim communities. Numerous incidents serve as stark reminders of the potential repercussions of this discourse.
One particularly distressing case dates back to August 2015, when 81-year-old Mushin Ahmed, a Muslim pensioner, fell victim to a racially motivated hate crime in Rotherham. Ahmed tragically lost his life, as he was brutally attacked by an assailant who had baselessly accused him of being involved in grooming activities.
In 2017, another disturbing incident occurred when Darren Osborne carried out a violent attack on worshippers outside the Finsbury Park Mosque, resulting in one fatality and several injuries. Osborne’s descent into hatred towards Muslims was reportedly fueled by his exposure to the BBC television drama “Three Girls,” which portrayed events related to grooming gangs in Rochdale.
Perhaps one of the most shocking instances linking the grooming gang narrative to violence took place in 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. A terrorist who targeted a mosque, taking the lives of 51 worshippers, was found to have inscribed “For Rotherham” on his bullets, suggesting a direct connection to the aforementioned case.
These disturbing incidents underscore the urgent need for a comprehensive examination of the impact of the grooming gang narrative on society and the potential consequences it may have on vulnerable communities, particularly Muslims. Efforts to address the root causes of such violence and prevent future tragedies should be a top priority for authorities and the broader community.
