Following her resignation as shadow equalities minister, communities secretary Sajid Javid defended Sarah Champion after her controversial article in The Sun newspaper.
Champion resigned after controversy hit her article, in which she wrote: “Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls. There. I said it. Does that make me a racist? Or am I just prepared to call out this horrifying problem for what it is?”
Since the publication of the article, Champion attempted to distance herself from the paper: “I apologise for the offence caused by the extremely poor choice of words in the Sun article on Friday,” she said.
“I am concerned that my continued position in the shadow cabinet would distract from the crucial issues around child protection which I have campaigned on my entire political career.
“It is therefore with regret that I tender my resignation as shadow secretary of state for women and equalities.”
Since her announcement, Javid, the first British Pakistani MP to lead a government department, sent out a tweet suggesting that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was responsible for her resignation.
“Corbyn wrong to sack Sarah Champion. We need an honest open debate on child sexual exploitation, including racial motivation,” the communities secretary wrote on Twitter.
Speaking on ITV, Corbyn rejected these claims.
“I accepted her resignation, so clearly I did think it was the right thing to do,” he said.
When asked if Champion was right in suggesting Britain had a problem with British-Pakistani men exploiting white girls, Corbyn replied that it was wrong to “label a whole community”.
“I think what you have to do is label those that perpetrate disgusting and disgraceful crimes against people, and they can be from any community, they can be white, they can be black, they can be any community, but they have to be dealt with as the crime of what it is,” he continued.
In her resignation statement, Champion said: “I am concerned that my continued position in the shadow cabinet would distract from the crucial issues around child protection which I have campaigned on my entire political career,”