Kemi Badenoch has been urged to sack Robert Jenrick after he suggested the Tories could cap immigration from “alien cultures with medieval attitudes towards women”.
The shadow justice secretary stood by his claim that Britain has failed at integrating immigrants from some countries, pointing to the grooming gangs scandal as evidence.
“The scandal started with the onset of mass migration… importing hundreds of thousands of people from alien cultures, who possess medieval attitudes towards women,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, last week.
Pressed about the claim on Tuesday, Mr Jenrick told GB News that Britain has welcomed “millions of people in recent years… and some of them have backwards, frankly medieval attitudes to women”.
Then, quizzed by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about whether that meant the Conservatives would limit immigration among those with such attitudes, he said: “I think that we have to be very careful about who is coming into this country, the scale and pace of that immigration so that we can have a much more successful integration policy than we have today.”
He added: “I have always said, and it is a point made by Kemi Badenoch, the leader of my party, that not all cultures are equal. We should be very careful about who is coming into this country and the scale of immigration.”
Pakistan was among the countries Mr Jenrick singled out as one of those from which people come with “medieval attitudes”. And BBC presenter Nick Robinson asked him: “Does Sajid Javid’s family come with a medieval culture to this country? Does Sadiq Khan’s family have a medieval [culture]? How are you going to identify those who are acceptable and those who are not?”
The comments came after days of calls for a fresh national inquiry into grooming gangs, fuelled by Elon Musk and backed by the Conservatives.
The Liberal Democrats called for Ms Badenoch to sack her shadow cabinet colleague. But a spokesman for Ms Badenoch said the Lib Dems should spend less time worrying abuot tweets and explain why they oppose a fresh inquiry into the scandal.
Mr Jenrick was condemned on Sunday over his original claim by former Conservative special advisor Samuel Kasumu, who told the BBC his “blood was boiling” over the comments.
He said: “I don’t think that Elon Musk or Nigel Farage are the most dangerous individuals in our country. I think Robert Jenrick has the potential to be the most divisive person in our political history.
“I think some of his words over the last 12 months may result in some people maybe even dying because he has the potential to incite hatred in ways that I have never seen.”
But Ms Badenoch defended her colleague, posting on X that Mr Kasumu’s claim was “nonsense”. “We MUST be free to have tough conversations, no matter how difficult that may be to hear,” she added.
But, responding to Mr Jenrick defending his comments this morning, Lib Dems deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Ms Badenoch should sack him.
She said: “Robert Jenrick’s attempt to exploit this appalling scandal for his own political gain is completely shameless. He didn’t lift a finger to help the victims when a minister, now he’s jumping on the bandwagon and acting like a pound shop Farage.
“Kemi Badenoch should sack him as shadow justice secretary and condemn his divisive comments, instead of letting him run a leadership campaign under her nose.”
Amnesty International said Mr Jenrick should spend his time supporting efforts to tackle sexual offenders rather than spreading “divisive and ill-informed rhetoric”. Gender justice director Chiara Capraro said: “Violence against women and girls is endemic in all corners of our society and successive governments and institutions have failed to tackle it.
“The horrors of child abuse deserve a serious response, not the blatant prejudice and hostile commentary targeting minorities we’re currently seeing.
“Politicians like Mr Jenrick should be supporting all serious efforts to bring the perpetrators of sexual offences to justice – and doing so without resorting to divisive and ill-informed rhetoric about migration.”
Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon added: “It can never be right to judge a whole community by the actions of a group of individuals. After the 2024 riots, which saw violent mobs chanting ‘stop the boats’ as they attacked refugees, it is clear that political rhetoric has consequences.
“Labelling migrants and refugees as dangerous or medieval just adds fire to a debate that has already become too toxic and divisive.”
A spokesman for Kemi Badenoch said: “Robert Jenrick did an excellent job this morning explaining the pressing need for a national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal. The Lib Dems should spend less time worrying about tweets, and instead explain to the British people why they oppose an inquiry that would end the culture of cover ups in our institutions and finally get justice for the victims.”