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| Britain |
| Jack Straw sparks race row with Asian sex gang comments |
| 2011-01-10 |
| Asian community leaders criticised former Home Secretary Jack Straw after he claimed some Pakistani men see white girls as "easy meat". The Labour MP faced denunciation from party associates and Muslim leaders after discussing so-called "street-grooming" where young girls are seduced by older men before being sexually abused. Straw expressed his views after two Asian men were jailed for raping and sexually assaulting a series of girls. Mohammed Liaqat, 28, and Abid Saddique, 27, were jailed at Nottingham Crown Court for the rape and sexually abuse of several girls aged between 12 and 18. The judge in the case called the race of the victims and their abusers was "coincidental". But the Straw said there is a problem with young Pakistani men grooming and abusing vulnerable white girls. He said: "Pakistanis are not the only people who commit sexual offences and overwhelmingly sex offenders' wings are full of white offenders. But there is a specific problem which involves Pakistani heritage men who target vulnerable young white girls. "We need to get the Pakistani community to think much more clearly about why this is going on and to be more open about the problems that are leading to a number of Pakistani heritage men thinking it is OK to target white girls in this way." Straw added: "These young men act like any other young men. They're fizzing and popping with testosterone, they want some outlet for that but Pakistani heritage girls are off-limits. "So they then seek other avenues and they see these young women, white girls who are vulnerable, some of them in care, who they think are easy meat." Some Labour colleagues challenged his comments. Former Govan Labour MP Mohammad Sarwar said: "It is very unhelpful to tarnish any community in a blanket way. There are good and bad in every community. "I don't know many cases in Scotland where the people who are subject of an investigation are Pakistani men." Labour MP Keith Vaz, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "I understand what he said, but I disagree with it. I think we should look at this issue, primarily, as one of criminality." |
| Posted by: |
| #1 Its amazing how much politicians vision improves once they are in opposition. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-01-10 03:16 |