THE Home Secretary has been accused of using “racist rhetoric” by a former co-chair of her own party.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi slammed a number of remarks made by Suella Braverman and said that “it has got to stop”.

The Tory peer highlighted Braverman’s singling out of British Pakistani men over concerns about grooming gangs and comments on small boats crossing the channel.

The Home Secretary drew criticism for repeatedly alluding to cases, including in Rotherham and Rochdale, that involved groups of men of mainly Pakistani ethnicity.

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She described a “predominance of certain ethnic groups – and I say British Pakistani males – who hold cultural values totally at odds with British values, who see women in a demeaned and illegitimate way”.

Braverman has previously spoken about an “invasion” of migrants and was recently condemned for “encouraging racism” after she scolded the police force for sending officers to a pub to seize a collection of golliwog dolls.

Warsi’s comments come after letters were sent to Rishi Sunak calling for him to act on Braverman’s rhetoric, including from the British Pakistan Foundation, which accused the Home Secretary of seeking to portray all British Pakistani men in a “divisive and dangerous way”.

Speaking to LBC, Warsi said: “I think the Prime Minister has to get a really strong message that this kind of rhetoric, whether it’s on small boats, whether it’s the stuff she was saying on the weekend, which is not based on evidence, not nuanced, not kind of explanatory in any way, it has got to stop.”

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The peer directly referenced the story about Braverman and the police force although Essex Police has denied being directly reprimanded by the Home Secretary.

Warsi continued: “I don’t think any of my colleagues can use the pigment in their skin as some sort of defence mechanism to say they are not racist. You know brown people can be racist too.”

Asked if she was calling the Home Secretary racist, Warsi replied: “I am calling her rhetoric racist. I am. I say that as somebody who was subjected to racism growing up, you know, in the 70s and 80s. This is not a term that I use loosely.

“And it’s certainly not a term that I use easily when I talk about another woman of colour. Another parliamentarian of colour. But I think that somehow we have to call this out.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Secretary has been clear that all despicable child abusers must be brought to justice.

“And she will not shy away from telling hard truths, particularly when it comes to the grooming of young women and girls in Britain’s towns who have been failed by authorities over decades.

“As the Home Secretary said, the vast majority of British-Pakistanis are law-abiding, upstanding citizens but independent reports were unequivocal that in towns like Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford cultural sensitivities have meant thousands of young girls were abused under the noses of councils and police.”