Jack Straw has said ' a lot of white politicians ' prefer to keep silent about the segregation of our communities for fear of being dubbed racist . The former Labour home secretary said it was the responsibility of politicians to get such issues out in the open , but said there was a 'polite society ' which meant that such issues are not talked about . And Ann Cryer , the former Labour MP for Keighley , said it had been difficult for her to raise the issue of grooming by Asian men in her West Yorkshire constituency 'without being called a racist ' . Jack Straw , Labour MP for Blackburn has said ' a lot of white politicians ' prefer to keep silent about the segregation of our communities for fear of being dubbed racist . She said friends of hers in the Labour Party had known about the abuse for years , but said nothing about it . The two politicians made their comments on a documentary to be screened on Thursday and presented by Trevor Phillips , the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission . It comes days after Mr Philllips said in an article that Britain is silencing debate on race issues by 'intimidating ' those who dare to ask questions . He said far too many people felt unable to speak their minds out of a fear they would be branded racist , and that people would have to become 'more ready to offend each other ' as the price of free speech . The comments come 10 years after he warned that Britain was 'sleepwalking to segregation ' – comments which attracted a welter of criticism . But one politician who did not condemn the comments at the time was Mr Straw , home secretary from 1997 and 2001 and foreign secretary until 2006 . The MP for Blackburn , one of Britain 's most segregated constituencies , said : 'It is a fact of life that people tend to want to live where people like them live . 'If you got a map I could say the people in that area some from this part of India , the people in that area come from another Indian area but not very far away by the way , and this is a Pakistani area and these people come from here and these people come from there , ' he said . Asked Mr Phillips why it is that the UK is not comfortable talking about segregation , Mr Straw said : 'There is a sort of polite society in which people are n't comfortable about talking about this . 'But I think that in politics you have a responsibility to get things out in the open . I am concerned about the effects of people living wholly separate lives of course , but you ca n't direct where people live . ' Ann Cryer , the former Labour MP for Keighley , said it had been difficult for her to raise the issue of grooming by Asian men in her West Yorkshire constituency 'without being called a racist ' Mr Phillips then asked him why he thinks there is 'essentially such a silence on these questions ' . Mr Straw said : ' I think that a lot of white politicians are nervous about this . They lack confidence about what their views are – and think that somebody will criticise them if they come out with them . ' When Mr Phillips suggested : 'Somebody will call them racist ? ' , Mr Straw replied : 'Racist or some nonsense like that . ' Mrs Cryer also spoke to the programme about how she felt 'politically inhibited ' when she tried to raise the subject of child grooming in her Keighley constituency in 2002 . 'It was difficult for me to make these arguments without being called a racist , ' she said . 'And I just could n't interest either Bradford Social Services or West Yorkshire Police , and it was very distressing for me , so the last resort was to go public . ' She said the victims of abuse were aged 12 or 13 , but neither the mothers or the girls themselves could get any interest from the local police . 'Their mothers knew what was going on , that there was sexual activity with girls who were underage , ' she said . 'Not entirely – but nearly always – the gangs are from the Mirpuri Pakistani community . 'These seven women were saying : 'It 's not fair , we 've told West Yorkshire Police about it . We 've told Social Services about it and no one will do anything . 'Totally absurd : I mean , friends of mine in the Labour Party , they 'd known about it for years and they never mentioned it to me . ' Mr Phillips ' documentary , Things We Ca n't Say About Race But Are True , is on Channel 4 on Thursday at 9pm .
Ex Labour home secretary said politicians had duty to raise such issues . The Home Office has been criticised for its handling of the case and Former Labour MP Ann Cryer raised similar concerns in the interview . Said hard to raise issue of grooming by Asians without being called racist .