Kemi Badenoch has been accused of “backwards Islamophobia” after she claimed those responsible for the child grooming gangs scandal came from “peasant backgrounds”.

The Tory leader made the “shockingly offensive” remarks in an interview on GB News.

She also repeated her demand for a national inquiry into the rape and torture of vulnerable young girls by gangs of men from mainly British-Pakistani backgrounds.

Badenoch said that should look at the cultural issues surrounding the problem.

She said: “One is on the perpetrators’ side: where do these abusers come from? There’s a lot of misinformation, there’s a lot of generalisation and many innocent people will end up being grouped in with them.

“But there is a systematic pattern of behaviour, not even just from one country, but from sub-communities within those countries.

“People with a particular background, work background. People with a very poor background, a sort of peasant background, very, very rural, almost cut off from even the home origin countries that they might have been in.”

Responding to Badenoch’s comments, Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, said: “These comments are shockingly offensive and irresponsible.

“Kemi Badenoch is the leader of the opposition – she should know better than to peddle this backwards Islamophobia which only leads to division and hatred in our communities, and drives support for the far right.

“Any politician who is serious about tackling sexual abuse and exploitation of girls in this country must put the victims and their needs front and centre – not use the issue as an excuse to push their own agenda and try to make political capital.”

She added: “As politicians we all have a responsibility to our communities to stop a dangerous race to the bottom in how we speak about these issues.”

Meanwhile, prime minister Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson said Badenoch’s comments were “not language that he would use”.