BBC presenter Nick Robinson clashed with Robert Jenrick over his claim that “hundreds of thousands of people from alien cultures who possess medieval attitudes” have come to the UK from countries like Pakistan.
The shadow justice secretary was criticised over the remarks by former Tory adviser Samuel Kasumu, who said some people could die as a result.
On Radio 4′s Today programme this morning, Jenrick - who was beaten by Kemi Badenoch in the last Tory leadership contest - doubled down and repeatedly refused to rule out ending immigration from Pakistan.
His appearance came amid the ongoing row over the grooming gang scandal, when gangs of men from mainly Pakistani origins targeted vulnerable young white girls.
Robinson asked him: “You wrote an article in which you said there was a link between what we’re talking about and the need, in your words, to end mass migration.
“You went on: ‘Not all cultures are equal. Importing hundreds of thousands of people from alien cultures’ who possess what you call ‘medieval attitudes towards women brought us here’. Which cultures are you talking about?”
Jenrick replied: “Millions of people have come into the UK in recent times. Some of those people hold backwards attitude to women.
“We know that British Pakistani men were over-represented as members of these rape gangs and we know that many selected their victims because they were white and viewed them as worthless as a result. It is important that we are honest about that.”
Robinson then asked him: “Being honest, do you want to stop migration of Pakistanis?”
Jenrick said: “I think it is very difficult to successfully integrate the very large numbers of people who we have had coming into our country in recent years. We should be open about that.”
Robinson then said: “Are you saying that people from Pakistan have a medieval culture?”
The shadow minister replied: “I think some people who come from that country do. I’m not saying everybody.”
The presenter asked him: “Does [former Tory home secretary] Sajid Javid’s family come with a medieval culture to this country? Does [London mayor]Sadiq Khan’s family have a medieval [culture]? How are you going to identify those who are acceptable and those who are not?”
He went on: “Would you stop immigration from those countries?”
Jenrick replied: “I’ve always said, and it’s the point made by Kemi Badenoch, the leader of my party, not all cultures are equal. We should be very careful about who is coming into this country, and the scale of immigration.”
Pointing out that immigration from Pakistan actually went up when the Tories were in power, Robinson asked: “Are you saying that certain countries have, in your words, alien cultures with medieval attitudes and that British immigration policy should now be remade to stop people coming from those countries?”
Jenrick said: “I think that we have to be very careful about who is coming into this country, the scale and pace of that immigration so we can have a much more successful integration policy.”
Pressed to give an answer to the question, he replied: “We have said that we want to reduce the number of people coming into this country and we want to have a legally binding cap set by parliament.”
