A top British official Saturday said corruption is rife among some ethnic groups in the country, especially Pakistanis, sparking angry reactions from community leaders. "Some minority communities come from backgrounds where corruption is endemic. We as politicians have to wake to up to it," Attorney General Dominic Grieve told The Daily Telegraph in an interview.
Asked if he was referring to the Pakistani community in his remarks, he said: "Yes, it's mainly the Pakistani community, not the Indian community. "I wouldn't draw it down to one. I'd be wary of saying it's just a Pakistani problem." But a Pakistani Labour Party MP branded Grieve's comments as divisive.
Khalid Mahmood, who came to the UK from Pakistan as a child, said the Attorney-General was marking out the Pakistani community as "more corrupt" than other minority groups and trying to "divide and conquer" within communities. Grieve, the Conservative Party MP, said the problem arose as some of Britain's minority communities "come from societies where they have been brought up to believe you can only get certain things through a favour culture". "One of the things you have to make absolutely clear is that that is not the case and it's not acceptable. As politicians these are issues we need to pay some attention to."
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