Labour MP Sarah Champion has vowed to continue campaigning for child abuse victims despite losing her job in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.
Champion resigned as shadow women and equalities secretary after a column she wrote in The Sun which warning Britain has a “problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls”.
After sharp criticism of the article - it was branded “racist” by some - she attempted to distance herself by claiming the content had been altered. But The Sun countered that the column was approved by the MP’s team.
Champion, an MP throughout the Rotherham child exploitation scandal, has now taken to Twitter to retweet supporters and pledge she would not be silenced on the issue.
Champion’s column in The Sun came a week after 18 people were convicted of being part of a grooming gang in Newcastle.
Corbyn told reporters he thought Champion was right to resign her post, but Communities Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted he thought the Labour leader was “wrong to sack” her.
Corbyn told the BBC: “Child exploitation is wrong. Child abuse is wrong. It is a crime, and it has to be dealt with.
“But you cannot blame an entire community, an entire nation or an entire ethnic community. You have to deal with it for the crime of what it is.”
Asked if he had sacked Ms Champion over her comments, he said: “Look, she resigned and I accepted the resignation, so, clearly, I think it’s right thing to do and I thank her for her work.”