Kemi Badenoch’s Spokesman Ties Himself in Knots Over Her ‘Peasants’ Grooming Gang Comments

The Conservative Party leader’s spokesman told reporters to stop “quibbling” over “language” after he faced repeated questions about her suggestion that grooming gangs are made up of “peasants” from “sub-communities”.

Kemi Badenoch told GB News on Tuesday that the perpetrators come from “a very poor background, a sort of peasant background, very, very rural, almost cut off from even the home-origin countries that they might have been in”.

And she added further fuel to the fire by adding: “There are some places where, when people behave in that way, a mob turns up and burns their homes down, and then they know that they can’t do that sort of thing.” 

Her comments came after Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said that those involved in grooming were from “alien” and “medieval” cultures.

On Wednesday, her spokesman was quizzed by Byline Times Political Editor Adam Bienkov, and other journalists, about her comments and the risk of inflaming tensions over the subject six months on from the racist riots that spread across the UK.

Badenoch’s official spokesman told this paper that when referring to ‘peasants’, the Conservative leader was “referring to certain communities abroad that are cut off, not part of the main areas of countries,” despite it relating to grooming scandals in the UK.  

When pressed about her comments on burning down perpetrators houses, he added: “Quibbling over language is what got us into this mess” and asked: “Are we doing this again?”. 

Asked by Byline Times whether it was helpful for her to talk about burning down houses, after racist mobs tried to burn down a hotel during the riots, he replied “I’m not dealing with that”.

He was also asked whether – after intense questioning by the Conservatives over whether Chancellor Rachel Reeves would stay in her job – the Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride was safe.

He “guaranteed” that Mel Stride would stay in the same job for the next four years. Byline Times asked if this applied to the rest of the Shadow Cabinet, to which the Conservative spokesman replied: “Yes.” 

Journalist: “So no reshuffles?” 

Spokesman: “We are very happy with our Shadow Cabinet as it is.”

Read the full exchange below:

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Briefing with Lobby Journalists and Kemi Badenoch’s Spokesman

Adam Bienkov: Can Kemi define which community living in the UK she describes as ‘peasants’?

Spokesman: The Leader of the Opposition was speaking after meeting victims and representatives of the Pakistani community. She said that the language used around grooming gangs – whether “Asian grooming gangs” or “Pakistani grooming gangs” or “Muslim grooming gangs” – is smearing entire communities, races, and religions with the tarnish of these gangs. She stated there needs to be a closer look at where they come from, which is one reason she wants a national Inquiry, as this hasn’t been properly examined.

Adam Bienkov: Was her Shadow Justice Secretary [Robert Jenrick] smearing whole communities when he described them as “people from alien cultures” last week? You’re saying [people] shouldn’t do that, but you defended it last week.

Spokesman: He wasn’t saying Asian or Muslim. I dealt with that last week. I set out what the Leader of the Opposition was saying.

Adam Bienkov: He referred to British Pakistanis

Journalist: She also made comments about abusers knowing that they’d done wrong if their houses were burnt down. Does she regret that language? It sounded very close to the bone.

Spokesman: She was referring to certain communities abroad that are cut off, not part of the main areas of countries. This comes from her experiences in Nigeria. She was talking about people who think it’s acceptable to rape young girls in this country.

Josiah Mortimer: Which cut-off communities?

Spokesman: She wasn’t specifying. She was speaking about various countries, but she brings her experience from growing up in Nigeria.