‘Corruption endemic in Pak community’

In comments likely to hit Britain’s relations with Pakistan, attorney-general Dominic Grieve has said that corruption is ‘endemic’ in the Pakistani community in Britain and called upon the David Cameron government to ‘wake up’ to the threat.

In comments likely to hit Britain’s relations with Pakistan, attorney-general Dominic Grieve has said that corruption is ‘endemic’ in the Pakistani community in Britain and called upon the David Cameron government to ‘wake up’ to the threat.

In an interview to the Daily Telegraph on Saturday, Grieve, a Conservative MP from Beaconsfield (Buckinghamshire), said ministers should ‘wake up’ to the threat of corruption in public life, which he attributed to “minority communities” that allegedly function according to a “favour culture”.

Asked if he was referring to the Pakistani community in relation to corruption in elections, Grieve 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.”

Grieve, who has a sizeable South Asian community in his constituency, said: “I can see many of them have come because of the opportunities that they get. But they also come from societies where they have been brought up to believe you can only get certain things through a favour culture.”