Minister forced out by Corbyn: I will fight on for rape victims

SARAH CHAMPION, the Labour MP who said Pakistani gangs were raping young white girls, has vowed to keep standing up for victims despite losing her job in Jeremy Corbyn’s senior team.

The MP for Rotherham sparked a row after claiming there was a cultural element to sexual abuse in many cases, which resulted in her being forced to stand down as shadow minister for women and equalities by Mr Corbyn.

Taking to Twitter, the defiant campaigner vowed not to be silenced and called on others to speak out as she repeated warnings from others that a bid to silence her was wrong.

She wrote: “Huge thank you for all support people have shown. Promise I’ll still be working on protecting children, preventing abuse & making UK more equitable.”

Ms Champion also re-posted a supportive message from another Twitter user which said: “We cannot solve problems unless we’re allowed to talk about them, shame to see what’s happened to Sarah Champion”.

Another said: “Controversy surrounding Sarah Champion reveals a wider problem surrounding misogyny, rape culture, sexism and racism.”

A number of MPS and campaigners came out to support the Labour MP following her resignation, after Mr Corbyn said she was wrong to highlight the relevance of cultural background in child sex grooming cases.

It follows a number of high-profile cases, including those in Rotherham and Rochdale, in which groups of Asian men were found to have taken advantage of young white working class girls, using them for sex.

Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, said the Labour leader was wrong to sack Ms Champion and called for an open discussion on the issue of culture and religion.