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Keir Starmer has condemned the shadow justice secretary's remarks about the lack of white faces in parts of Handsworth, stating the politician was hard to take seriously.

Political Ambitions Accusations

The prime minister implied that his comments were part of a covert 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 fire of toxic nationalism after he doubled down on his complaint despite criticism from figures including the ex-Tory mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street.

Local Response and Support

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

• Street had told the media the remarks were wrong 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.

Kemi Badenoch, defended Jenrick, saying he had made a factual statement and that there was no issue with noting realities.

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

Party Disagreements

The shadow chancellor became the initial high-ranking Conservative to distance himself from his colleague over the comments, telling a Politico fringe event that they were phrases I would have avoided.

Jenrick repeatedly informed journalists 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 we have to have as a country about integration.

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

Initial Statements

In his original remarks, Jenrick said Handsworth was one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to. In fact, in the hour and a half 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.