Labor’s Wes Streeting says the gang dispute could spark Britain’s version of a mosque massacre in New Zealand that left 51 people dead

Health Minister Wes Streeting has expressed fears that the vilification of Britain’s Muslim community in response to gang manipulation has the potential to trigger a British version of the horrific 2019 New Zealand mosque massacre.

The Labor politician warned that both the British public and politicians should single out “entire communities” and “brush with the same comb” and also said he had “no difficulty or concern” about the crimes committed by sexual harassment gangs to denounce Great Britain.

Speaking to the Guardian, the Ilford North MP highlighted the potential consequences of “irresponsible and rude public discourse”, citing New Zealand’s worst-ever mass shooting, in which right-wing extremist Brenton Tarrant shot 51 people dead and injured another 89 in 2019.

This atrocity took place at two mosques in the South Island city of Christchurch, with Tarrant livestreaming his heinous acts online.

The investigation found that his weapons and ammunition had white supremacist symbols engraved on them, and one bullet casing had “For Rotherham” scrawled on it – an apparent reference to the child sex scandal uncovered in the English city.

There has been widespread outrage in recent weeks at the way Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer handled gang incitement cases during his time as director of public prosecutions.

In the House of Commons, the Conservatives accused Labor MPs of “turning a blind eye to justice for victims of grooming gangs” after their amendment to the government’s Child Protection Act, which would call for a further nationwide inquiry, was defeated.

Mr Streeting singled out Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, saying: “If Kemi Badenoch has any doubts… look to the other side of the world, in Christchurch, New Zealand, where someone entered a mosque and coldly killed innocent Muslims dead ‘.

The campaign against the prime minister has been waged primarily online by X owner Elon Musk, with Mr Streeting admitting the tech billionaire’s increasing involvement in political affairs around the globe underscores the increasing importance of technology such as social media in democracies .

“We must ensure that technology is used for the public good and we must ensure that it is based on democratic principles.”

“There will be a major global battle over the course of this century over whether democracy or tyranny prevails in this area,” Streeting said.

Musk has in recent weeks accused the prime minister of being “complicit in the rape of Britain” due to his work as a former director of public prosecutions, and called Protection Secretary Jess Phillips a “witch” and “rape-genocide apologist.” .

However, Mr Starmer has defended his tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions, claiming he tackled child sexual abuse charges “head-on”.

The Health Secretary’s comments come in the same week that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for an investigation into “the extent to which gangs of Pakistani men raped young white girls”.

Additionally, the Clacton MP announced yesterday that he would set up his own inquiry next month if the government fails to launch a new inquiry into gang maintenance.

However, Richard Fewkes, director of the NPCC’s fire hydrant program to combat child sexual abuse, said there was no “significant problem” with “a particular ethnicity or setting”.

New figures from the police database show that where ethnicity data was available, 85% of “group-based” child abusers in the first three quarters of 2024 were white.

The same data for all of 2023 showed that 83% of offenders were white.

“(The data) reflects what you would expect in terms of ethnicity across the country,” Mr Fewkes said.

“Crimes involving grooming gangs are predominantly white.”

“There is no significant problem here with any particular ethnicity or environment.”