UK Attorney-General singles out Pakistani corruption

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.”

He pointed to electoral corruption being a particular issue among these communities.

Earlier this year, the UK's Electoral Commission had announced it was considering introducing ballot box identity checks in Tower Hamlets, east London, in an effort to stamp out electoral fraud in areas with large South Asian communities.

Later in a statement, the country's senior-most law officer was forced to clarify his comments as they sparked anger among certain sections.

However, Grieve said: “The point I was making is that, as a law officer, it's my duty to ensure the rule of law is upheld, and one of the issues that I feel requires close attention is any potential for a rise in corruption to undermine civil society.

“I believe this is an issue which needs to be addressed calmly and rationally. I am absolutely clear that this problem is not attributable to any one community, as I know very well from my many years promoting community cohesion.” Tory ministers have avoided singling out particular communities over political corruption.

However, in 2010, Pakistani-origin Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, now minister for faith in Prime Minister David Cameron's Cabinet, had claimed the Tories lost three seats at the general election as a result of voter fraud within the Asian community.