An independent MP has branded the grooming gangs scandal a “false-right-wing narrative” in a speech at a meeting of British Pakistani politicians. Ayoub Khan, who became MP for Birmingham Perry Barr in 2024 and is part of a pro-Gaza alliance in Parliament, said the “narrative” around grooming gangs had been created to “sow division.”

As per GB News, he added: “When the right-wing media and those that seek to undermine… They are using their false narrative – and there’s nothing new in that. We know what they have run in the past… Whether that’s in relation to the people that stand up for human rights in Palestine or Kashmir, whether it’s to do with grooming gangs, it’s a narrative that is done in order to sow division. We must prevent that from happening and one of the ways to achieve that is to make sure that the moment a false narrative is arisen, that we address it immediately.

“And we fail to do that as parliamentarians. I spoke to Tahir Ali MP and I said to him that one of the things that we must make sure is that false narrative doesn’t catch air… Because when that catches air, it runs round all communities and it causes division.”

Labour MP Tahir Ali was also on the panel at the meeting.

The comments came at the Mirpur Airport Demand Grand Conference in Birmingham as British Pakistani MPs campaigned for a new airport in the city. Mr Khan’s remarks have drawn criticism from ex-Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, who lost his seat to Mr Khan in the 2024 election.

Mr Mahmood said: “It is important to address issues within the community that divide our community,” he added. “There must be no space in our community and in our society for the people who commit these sort of heinous acts against very young girls.

“We’ve got to face up to the reality and the truth of what’s happening and what’s happened.

“I’ve experienced a case of a Mirpuri Pakistani girl who was taken away for 24 hours, raped a number of times, but she did not take the case forward because there was a huge amount of ‘shame’ associated with it.

“And when this happens to white English girls, when they are pleading for help and no one takes any notice, then something has to be done, we have to get up and say this, and we can’t describe it as a right-wing narrative.”

Sam Bidwell of the Adam Smith Institute added: “Thousands of children, across dozens of towns and cities, were raped by these evil gangs. Does Khan not believe that this happened, or does he just not care?”

Mr Khan responded to the criticism, telling GB News: “I strongly disagree with the suggestion that acknowledging the political misuse of grooming gang narratives amounts to either naivety or malice.

“Let me be clear – any and all forms of child sexual exploitation are abhorrent and must be confronted with zero tolerance.

“My argument, made in good faith, is that we must resist selectively focusing on certain ethnic or religious groups, particularly Muslims or British Pakistanis, when the data simply does not support that they are uniquely culpable.

“In 2020, the Home Office itself published a review into group-based child sexual exploitation which concluded that ‘there is no credible evidence that this type of offending is more prevalent among Asian or Muslim communities’.

“In fact, most group-based offenders in the UK are white men. But the national conversation continues to be dominated by high-profile cases involving British Pakistani men, often used as a vehicle by the far right to stoke division, distrust, and Islamophobia.

“This isn’t about denying the lived experiences of victims. It’s about addressing all perpetrators equally – and ensuring that justice isn’t hijacked by political narratives that serve agendas rather than truth.

“If the real concern is justice for survivors, then let’s look at the bigger picture: according to NSPCC and police data, the majority of child sex abuse is committed by white men, often in family or institutional settings, not ‘grooming gangs’.

“Yet the term ‘grooming gang’ has become racialised shorthand – too often synonymous with Muslim men – and that is both dangerous and inaccurate.

“We must also ask why so many survivors, regardless of ethnicity, struggle to be heard. Systemic failures in policing, social services, and institutional cultures of disbelief are the root of that. Shifting the blame to a community deflects from these failings.

“So no, recognising that the grooming gang narrative has been weaponised by sections of the right is not naive – it’s necessary.”

The grooming gangs scandal saw girls raped and abused by gangs of men in towns across the UK for years, with the first reports of the issue coming back in 2002.

An investigation by The Times found that these gangs, predominantly made up of British-Pakistani men, were carrying out these crimes all over the country.

In recent years, many members of the gangs have been convicted of sexual offences against young girls.

Alexis Jay’s 2014 inquiry report into abuse in Rotherham described how girls were raped, trafficked, and even subjected to other forms of violence,

Ms Jay’s report also revealed how police and local authorities had failed to recognise and deal with the problem.