A UK Cabinet minister has insisted there must be an "honest open debate" about child abuse after a Labour MP quit her frontbench role following a backlash when she claimed Britain had a problem with British Pakistani men raping white girls.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said racial motivation in sexual abuse cases must be addressed as he suggested Jeremy Corbyn had compelled Sarah Champion to resign as Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary; a claim denied by the Labour leader.

Mr Corbyn insisted his party would not "demonise" any particular group and said the MP for Rotherham had been right to go.

Ms Champion apologised for her "extremely poor choice of words" in a newspaper article but the Equality and Human Rights Commission described it as a "real shame" that she had resigned due to "over-sensitivity about language".

The Labour MP had warned that the country had a "problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls" in a column for The Sun.

It followed the conviction in Newcastle of 17 men and a woman, mostly British-born and from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Turkish, Iraqi and Indian communities, for sex and drug offences.

Mr Javid tweeted: "Corbyn wrong to sack Sarah Champion. We need an honest open debate on child sexual exploitation, including racial motivation."

But the Labour leader told ITV: "I don't think you can label a whole community. What you have to do is label those that perpetrate disgusting and disgraceful crimes against people and they can be from any community, they can be white, they can be black, they can be any community, but they have to be dealt with as the crime of what it is."

Asked if Rotherham, Rochdale, Newcastle and elsewhere showed there was a "particular problem" with Pakistani men, Mr Corbyn replied: "The problem is the crime that is committed against women from any community.

"Much crime is committed by white people, crime is committed by people of other communities as well. It is wrong to designate an entire community as the problem.”

Asked if Ms Champion was sacked or resigned, Mr Corbyn repeatedly insisted she quit of her own volition. "Listen, she resigned and I accepted the resignation,” he added.

In an article for The Sun, Ms Champion wrote: "Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls.

"There. I said it. Does that make me a racist? Or am I just prepared to call out this horrifying problem for what it is?

"For too long we have ignored the race of these abusers and, worse, tried to cover it up. No more. These people are predators and the common denominator is their ethnic heritage."

More than 100 MPs and peers, including Ms Champion, later complained about "Nazi-like" language in The Sun following a comment piece by the paper’s former political editor Trevor Kavanagh in which he asked what could be done about "the Muslim Problem".

It comes as Mr Corbyn continues his summer blitz of marginal constituencies with a series of visits in Lancashire, including areas with significant Asian populations. Next week, he will hold a rally in Glasgow.

The Labour leader has targeted scores of seats during the parliamentary recess as he seeks to build on the momentum developed by his party at June's General Election.