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Keir Starmer has condemned the shadow justice secretary's remarks about not seeing another white face in parts of Birmingham, suggesting the MP was hard to take seriously.

Leadership Campaign Accusations

The prime minister implied that his comments were part of a stealth Conservative leadership campaign and said he did not believe they accurately reflected the neighborhood of the Birmingham district.

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

Jenrick has been accused of fuelling a fire of toxic nationalism after he reiterated his complaint despite backlash from individuals including the former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street.

Local Rejection and Defense

Starmer, who avoided directly addressing the comments, said he had agreed with Street's criticisms of the MP.

• The former mayor had told the media the remarks were wrong and described Handsworth as a very integrated place.
• I think that what Andy Street said was right, 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 truthful observation and that there was no issue with noting realities.

But she also told 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.

Internal Disagreements

The shadow chancellor became the initial high-ranking Conservative to distance himself from his colleague over the comments, telling a gathering that they were not words that I would have used.

The MP repeatedly told interviewers at the event that he supported the comments and did not retract them as it would be wrong to end a crucial discussion that we have to have as a country about social cohesion.

When a reporter put it to him that his remarks could encourage extremist organizations, Jenrick said it was an completely unacceptable and absurd question.

Initial Remarks

In his original remarks, 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 recording in the area 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.