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Keir Starmer has condemned Robert Jenrick's remarks about not seeing another white face in parts of Handsworth, stating the MP was difficult to regard credibly.

Leadership Campaign Accusations

Starmer suggested that his comments were part of a covert Conservative 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 wave of divisive sentiment after he doubled down on his complaint despite backlash from individuals including the former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street.

Local Rejection and Defense

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

• The former mayor had told BBC Newsnight the comments were incorrect and portrayed the area as a very integrated place.
• In my view, Andy Street's comments were accurate, Starmer said. Having served as mayor for an extended period, Andy Street possesses deep familiarity with the locality.

The Conservative leader, supported Jenrick, saying he had made a factual statement and that there was nothing wrong with making observations.

But she also told BBC Breakfast: 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 his colleague over the comments, telling a gathering that they were phrases I would have avoided.

The MP repeatedly told interviewers at the conference that he stood by the comments and did not retract them as it would be wrong to shut down an important debate that the nation needs to engage in about integration.

When a reporter suggested that his comments could embolden far-right groups, he said it was an absolutely disgraceful and ridiculous question.

Original Statements

In his original remarks, Jenrick said Handsworth was among the least cohesive locations I have visited. In fact, in the hour and a half he was recording in the area 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.