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The Prime Minister has condemned Robert Jenrick's remarks about not seeing another white face in parts of Handsworth, suggesting the politician was hard to take seriously.

Leadership Campaign Accusations

Starmer suggested that Jenrick's observations were linked to a stealth Conservative bid for leadership and asserted he did not believe they accurately reflected 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.

The shadow justice secretary has been criticized for igniting a wave of divisive sentiment after he doubled down on his complaint despite backlash from figures including the ex-Tory mayor of the region, the former mayor.

Community Response and Support

The prime minister, who did not directly engage the comments, said he had supported Andy Street's objections of the MP.

• Street had told the media the remarks were incorrect and portrayed Handsworth as a very integrated place.
• In my view, Andy Street's comments were accurate, the prime minister 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 truthful observation and that there was no issue with noting realities.

However, she added on the program: In my opinion, the discussion should not focus on the number or appearance of individuals seen on streets.

Party Disagreements

Mel Stride became the initial high-ranking Conservative to disassociate from his colleague over the comments, telling a Politico fringe event that they were phrases I would have avoided.

The MP repeatedly told journalists at the event that he supported the comments and did not retract them as it would be wrong to end a crucial discussion that the nation needs to engage in about social cohesion.

When a reporter suggested that his comments could encourage far-right groups, he said it was an completely unacceptable and absurd inquiry.

Original Remarks

In his initial comments, Jenrick said the area was one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to. Specifically, in the hour and a half he was filming news there he didn’t see another white face.

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.