Labour minister Lucy Powell is facing mounting calls to resign after she dismissed the grooming gangs scandal as a "dog whistle" issue.
Ms Powell, Labour’s Leader of the House of Commons, sparked outrage after accusing political commentator Tim Montgomerie of blowing a "little trumpet" when he raised the issue during a discussion on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions.
Her remarks have been condemned as a "disgusting betrayal of the victims," prompting calls for an apology or resignation.
During the Radio 4 debate, Mr Montgomerie, founder of ConservativeHome and now a supporter of Reform UK, brought up a recent Channel 4 documentary, Groomed: A National Scandal, which detailed the horrific abuse suffered by five girls at the hands of grooming gangs.
He said: "I don't know if you saw the documentary on Channel 4 about rape gangs."
Ms Powell, MP for Manchester Central, immediately interrupted, saying: "Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Yeah, OK, let's get that dog whistle out."
Mr Montgomerie responded: "There is a real issue where, there were so many people in local government, in the authorities, who, for good reason, were worried about upsetting community tensions, those girls went undefended."
Robert Jenrick, shadow justice secretary, sharply criticised Ms Powell’s comments, stating: "Labour's Lucy Powell thinks it's a 'dog whistle' to demand arrests and accountability for the rape gangs. What a disgusting betrayal of the victims. They are part of the cover-up."
Shadow Tory whip Katie Lam joined the calls for action, posting on social media platform X: "If the Leader of the House of Commons does not, in fact, think that industrialised child sexual torture is just a 'dog whistle' and a 'little trumpet', she should take it back and say sorry.
"If she does actually think that, she has no business being in Cabinet and should resign."
The Labour Party had already come under fire earlier this year over its response to the grooming gangs scandal, involving thousands of victims predominantly abused by men of Pakistani heritage.
The Government has so far resisted demands for a full national inquiry but is awaiting the outcome of an audit by Baroness Casey, aimed at assessing the scale and nature of the issue, as well as the profiles of offenders.
Mr Montgomerie, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK in December citing frustration over immigration policies, highlighted broader issues during the debate, stating: "One good thing about having a new party is it will ask difficult questions. There's no legacy of vested interests, and there is a real issue. I think Britain is one of the most tolerant countries in the world, and there always needs to be more progress on racial issues, there always needs to be more progress. But it's not so much the amount of money that is spent on employing diversity officers. You talk to a lot of civil servants, the amount of time they now have to spend monitoring this issue, above all others, is [extraordinary]."
Ms Powell dismissed his argument as "absolute nonsense," adding: "Go and sit in council for a day and actually see what they're dealing with. You've got no idea, I'm afraid."
A Reform UK spokesman said: "If local election results weren't enough, Lucy Powell's abhorrent comments truly demonstrate how out of touch the Labour Party is.
"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."
Last night, Ms Powell released a statement clarifying her remarks: "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."
