Legal opinion.
Robert Buckland told the Telegraph that racism cut "all ways" and should be "front and centre" when it is part of grooming and sexual abuse cases. Mr Buckland said tougher prison sentences should be given when it was established that sexual abuse was racially aggravated.
"The law does not discriminate," he said.
"When it talks about sentencing increases for racial aggravation it doesn't cut one way, it cuts all ways.
"Where there is a racial element in sexual abuse cases the law is clear that courts can apply a sentencing uplift."
Government view.
Then last Wednesday, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said sexual predators were "not restricted to any single ethnic group, religion or community". She added: "I want to be absolutely clear that political and cultural sensitivities must never be allowed to get in the way of preventing and uncovering it."
Step forward Labour's Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham, one of the places where these attacks took place - 1400 of them. She said the UK needed "to be upfront that the majority of the perpetrators have been British-Pakistani" and called for the government to research why this is happening.
"The government aren't researching what is going on," she said. "Are these cultural issues? Is there some sort of message going out within the community?" "This isn't racist, this is child protection."
She then predicted: the "far right" would attack her comments for "not doing enough" and the "floppy left" would call her racist.
And so it has come to pass: She repeated her claims last Friday in the Sun and has now been hounded out of office as a shadow minister.