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

Political Ambitions Claims

The prime minister suggested that Jenrick's comments were linked to a stealth Tory bid for leadership and asserted he did not believe they accurately reflected the area of Handsworth.

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

Jenrick has been criticized for igniting a fire of toxic nationalism after he doubled down on his complaint despite backlash from figures including the former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street.

Community Rejection and Defense

Starmer, who did not directly engage the comments, said he had agreed with Street's criticisms of the MP.

• The former mayor had stated to BBC Newsnight the remarks were incorrect and portrayed the area as a highly cohesive community.
• In my view, Andy Street's comments were accurate, the prime minister said. Having served as mayor for an extended period, Andy Street possesses deep familiarity with the locality.

Kemi Badenoch, defended Jenrick, saying he had made a factual statement 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 Divisions

Mel Stride became the first senior Tory to disassociate from Jenrick over the statements, informing a Politico fringe event that they were phrases I would have avoided.

Jenrick repeatedly informed journalists at the conference that he supported the remarks 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 suggested that his comments could encourage far-right groups, Jenrick said it was an absolutely disgraceful and ridiculous inquiry.

Original Statements

In his original remarks, the MP said Handsworth was among the least cohesive locations I have visited. Specifically, 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.