Pro-Gaza Independent MP Ayoub Khan has been criticised by former Conservative MP and GB News host Michael Portillo after branding the grooming gangs scandal a “false right-wing narrative”.
During a Mirpur Airport Demand Grand Conference in Birmingham, Khan claimed that grooming gangs were “a narrative that is done in order to sow division” – a speech which has been branded “naive at best and malicious at worst”.
Khan said: “When the right-wing media and those that seek to undermine… They are using their false narrative – and there’s nothing new in that.
“We know what they have run in the past… Whether that’s in relation to the people that stand up for human rights in Palestine or Kashmir, whether it’s to do with grooming gangs, it’s a narrative that is done in order to sow division.”
Michael Portillo criticised Khan for branding the grooming gangs scandal a ‘right-wing narrative’
GB News / Parliament TV
Discussing Khan’s remarks, Portillo told GB News that using the term “narrative” suggests he is “not accepting the facts of the matter”.
Portillo explained: “He talked about a grooming gang narrative which is being spread in order to sow division. Now, first of all, I think we ought to call them rape gangs.
“And let’s face it, the rape gangs is not a narrative, it is a series of facts, and we don’t actually know enough of those facts. Because although a number of men were convicted of terrible crimes, the Government has withdrawn any idea of having an inquiry into how widespread this was, and in particular, what was the institutional and governmental response to these crimes.”
In further criticism of Khan’s remarks, Portillo stated that although he hasn’t explicitly “denied” rape gangs are taking place in Britain, he is suggesting that he is “not accepting the facts” of the scandal.
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Khan told attendees at the Mirpur Airport Demand Grand Conference Birmingham that grooming gangs were ‘a narrative that is done in order to sow division’FACEBOOKPortillo told Camilla Tominey: “Ayoub Khan is saying that the grooming gang narrative is being spread in order to sow division – he’s not actually in as many words denying that these things happen, but when you start talking about a narrative, it’s almost as though you’re not accepting the facts of the matter and the facts of the matter.
“There a very large number of girls, underage girls, who were raped by gangs in northern cities. Some of them are now doing time, quite rightly, but we suspect that the problem was more widespread.”
Noting the Government’s watering down of a national inquiry into the scandal, Portillo claimed that the “suspicions cannot be proved or disproven” because the Government “won’t hold an inquiry”.
When pressed by Camilla on whether he would have pushed for the inquiry had he still been in Government, Portillo admitted that inquiries are “generally a waste of time”.
Portillo told GB News that some ‘accountability’ for the grooming gangs scandal would be a ‘nice start’ for the Government
GB News
Portillo said: “Actually, it’s maybe rather inconsistent. I think the inquiries are generally a waste of time – they take a very long time and governments ignore their findings when they turn out.
“What I would like to see is a Government determined to take action, to say the policies of the local authorities were clearly wrong and they have to be completely changed. Maybe just some accountability would be in order at this point. That would be a nice starting point.”
In response, Khan told GB News: “I strongly disagree with the suggestion that acknowledging the political misuse of grooming gang narratives amounts to either naivety or malice.
“Let me be clear – any and all forms of child sexual exploitation are abhorrent and must be confronted with zero tolerance.”
