‘Mask has slipped!’ Keir Starmer told to SACK Labour minister over ‘abhorrent’ grooming gangs comment
Lucy Powell dismissed the horrific rape gangs scandal as “little trumpet”, with critics deeming her comments “abhorrent” and calling for her to resign.
The Commons leader was speaking to political correspondent Tim Montgomerie on BBC’s Any Questions last night when a discussion about councils got heated.
A day after the Local Government elections, Montgomerie was discussing diversity and inclusion policies within councils.
He said that council workers are now having to spend lots of time on this “issue”, which he said is an “extraordinary diversion”, which Powell and Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health and Social Care Helen Morgan MP highly contested.
Lucy Powell dismissed the horrific rape gangs scandal as ‘little trumpet’
PA
Montgomerie then asked if Powell had seen a recent Channel 4 documentary on rape gangs.
Powell replied: “Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Let’s get that dog whistle out, shall we, yeah?“
After some interjections, Montgomerie said: “There are so many people in local governments, in the authorities, who for good reasons are worried about upsetting community tensions that those girls went undefended. No one has still been brought to justice.
“You tell me Lucy that this isn’t a culture in local government, it’s just not true.”
Powell’s comments were branded “deeply offensive” online, with some calling for her resignation.
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Rupert Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth, wrote to Powell where he said her remarks “diminish and mock the genuine and justified outrage felt by millions of British people”.
“Your words trivialise one of the most shameful, festering scandals in British history: the industrial rape and sexual torture of young, working-class white girls by predominantly Pakistania men in towns and cities across the country.”
He said that to call it a “dog whistle” was “abhorrent and insulting”, and called on Powell to issue a public apology.
Responding to the comments, Reform UK said: “If yesterday’s local election results weren’t enough, Lucy Powell’s abhorrent comments truly demonstrate how out of touch the Labour Party is.
Rupert Lowe said her remarks ‘diminish and mock the genuine and justified outrage felt by millions of British people’
GETTY
“She does not take the mass rape of young girls by predominantly Pakistani men seriously. The mask has slipped.
“After these comments, Keir Starmer should consider if Lucy Powell is fit to serve.”
Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary, called for her to resign.”Her comment belittles thousands of girls who were raped by grooming gangs over decades The shocking channel 4 documentary shows this is not a ‘dog whistle’ Dismissing thousands of victims who were raped & the cover up is sickening.”
Users on X said Powell was “despicable” and she needs to “resign, in the heat of discussion your views were made clear. They are unacceptable and offensive”.
Powell posted on X following the backlash. She said: “In the heat of a discussion on AQ, I would like to clarify that I regard issues of child exploitation & grooming with the utmost seriousness. I’m sorry if this was unclear.
“I was challenging the political point scoring around it, not the issue itself. As a constituency MP I’ve dealt with horrendous cases. This Gvt is acting to get to the truth, and deliver justice.”
GB News has contacted Labour for comment.