RE: Yasmin Qureshi, MP for Bolton South East, “My stand against ISIS and Child abuse”, September 4, 2014.

Ms Qureshi is quite correct when she says the majority of young British Muslims’ loyalty should not be questioned because of a small minority who have questioned that same loyalty by joining the terrorist gang ISIS.

She goes on to say the activity of men in Rotherham, Oldham, Oxford and across the UK is repulsive no matter what race, creed or colour they are but felt Muslim men in particular were being unfairly treated by comments like Mr Green’s (September 2) for putting “focus on Muslim men that is deliberately misplaced” and “the greatest numbers of perpetrators of child sexual exploitation are white men”. On this point I have to disagree.

Firstly, of course there are more white men involved in more sex crimes than Muslim men across the country because there are 20 million-plus more white men in the country.

Secondly, the “more white men” comment is referring to nationwide sex crime and not the Muslim grooming gangs issue she referred to in Rotherham, Oldham and Oxford. The following is the true reality of this problem we have, Ms Quershi.

Your words only continue to water down the problem we have while keeping alive a culture of denial that has already put UK children at risk with many councils involved up to their eyeballs.

The Times, September 5, 2014, says: “From 1997- July 2013 there has been 17 cases identified that show a pattern of exploitation with these gangs. These gangs cover 19 towns: Leeds, Keighley, Blackpool, Oldham, Derby, Ipswich, Oxford, Blackburn, Sheffield, Manchester, Accrington, Birmingham, Barking, Skipton, Rochdale, Nelson, Preston, Telford and Brierfield. Of the 100 men convicted for child rape and molestation, 95 were Muslim men and five were white.”

I realise the above may make uncomfortable reading for some but not to hit this issue head on regardless of politics, colour, race or religion and using comparisons that try and deflect the issue at hand would be criminal. The time has come where the PC ‘walking on egg shells culture’ is consigned to the dustbin of history and never again allowed to protect the guilty.

Thomas Ryder Bolton