The comments made by Keighley MP Kris Hopkins in the House of Commons about the problem of sexual grooming in the district will add much fuel to the fire of a sensitive and controversial issue but are they likely to help find solutions?

When criticising or pointing the finger at a particular group or community, words need to be chosen very carefully and appropriate language has to be used, otherwise there is a danger that the whole of that community will be stigmatised.

It is an issue we have seen before with terrorism and Islamic fundamentalists, where careless comments and irresponsible opinions have seen millions of peace-loving Muslims left feeling tainted and isolated by unfair and unthinking association.

It is equally dangerous to allow the suggestion that Muslim parents allow their sons to grow up in such a way that it encourages a brutal attitude towards women, as Kris Hopkins did yesterday.

We are sure that Mr Hopkins did not mean to tarnish the whole community but there is a real danger that his words could be open to misinterpretation.

It is certainly true to say that there has been a problem with some Muslims forming gangs and grooming and abusing white women – just as there have been Muslims abusing Muslim women and white men gang-raping girls and even children – and there has been in the past a reluctance to tackle these issues head-on.

But stigmatising all Muslims is not the correct way forward any more than it would be to suggest that bad parenting by all white people leads to paedophile gangs.

The people who perpetrate these foul crimes in all societies are the exception not the rule and to suggest anything else simply plays into the hands of racists and bigots.