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The Prime Minister has condemned Robert Jenrick's remarks about the lack of white faces in parts of Handsworth, stating the politician was difficult to regard credibly.

Leadership Campaign Accusations

Starmer suggested that Jenrick's observations were linked to a covert Tory leadership campaign and said he did not believe they painted a true picture the area of the Birmingham district.

It’s quite hard to take anything that Robert Jenrick says seriously; he’s clearly still running his leadership campaign.

Jenrick has been accused of fuelling a fire of toxic nationalism after he doubled down on his complaint despite criticism from figures including the former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, the former mayor.

Community Response and Support

Starmer, who did not directly engage the comments, said he had supported Street's objections of the MP.

• The former mayor had told the media the comments were incorrect and portrayed Handsworth as a highly cohesive community.
• In my view, Andy Street's comments were accurate, Starmer said. Andy Street obviously was mayor for a long time and knows the area very very well.

Kemi Badenoch, defended him, saying he had made a factual statement and that there was nothing wrong with making observations.

But she also told the program: I don’t think this is where the debate should be, about how many faces people see on the street and what they look like.

Party Disagreements

Mel Stride became the initial high-ranking Conservative to distance himself from Jenrick over the comments, informing a gathering that they were not words that I would have used.

Jenrick repeatedly told interviewers at the event that he supported the remarks and did not resile from them as it would be wrong to shut down an important debate that the nation needs to engage in about social cohesion.

When a reporter suggested that his remarks could encourage extremist organizations, he said it was an absolutely disgraceful and ridiculous inquiry.

Original Statements

In his original remarks, the MP said the area was among the least cohesive locations I have visited. Specifically, in the hour and a half he was recording in the area he observed no other white individuals.

That’s not the kind of country I want to live in. I want to live in a country where people are properly integrated. It’s not about the colour of your skin or your faith – of course it isn’t. But I want people to be living alongside each other, not parallel lives. That’s not the right way we want to live as a country.