🔗 Share this article

Keir Starmer has criticized the shadow justice secretary's remarks about not seeing another white face in parts of Birmingham, stating the MP was difficult to regard credibly.

Political Ambitions Claims

Starmer suggested that Jenrick's comments were part of a covert Tory leadership campaign and said he did not believe they accurately reflected the neighborhood of Handsworth.

I find it difficult to regard Robert Jenrick's statements as credible; he's obviously continuing his leadership campaign.

The shadow justice secretary has been accused of fuelling a fire of toxic nationalism after he reiterated his remarks despite backlash from individuals including the former Conservative mayor of the region, the former mayor.

Local Response and Support

The prime minister, who avoided directly addressing the comments, said he had agreed with Street's criticisms of Jenrick.

• Street had stated to the media the remarks were wrong and portrayed Handsworth as a very integrated place.
• I think that what Andy Street said was right, Starmer said. Andy Street obviously was mayor for a long time and knows the area very very well.

The Conservative leader, defended him, saying he had made a factual statement and that there was no issue with noting realities.

However, she added on 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 Divisions

The shadow chancellor became the first senior Tory to distance himself from Jenrick over the statements, telling a gathering that they were not words that I would have used.

The MP repeatedly informed interviewers at the conference that he stood by the comments and did not resile from them as it would be wrong to shut down an important debate that we have to have as a country about social cohesion.

When a Sky News journalist put it to him that his remarks could encourage far-right groups, he said it was an completely unacceptable and absurd inquiry.

Original Remarks

In his initial comments, the MP said Handsworth was among the least cohesive locations I have visited. In fact, in the 90 minutes he was filming news there 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.