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The Prime Minister has criticized the shadow justice secretary's remarks about the lack of white faces in areas of Birmingham, suggesting the politician 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 area of Handsworth.

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 accused of fuelling a fire of toxic nationalism after he reiterated his remarks despite criticism from figures including the ex-Tory mayor of the region, the former mayor.

Local Rejection and Defense

Starmer, who avoided directly addressing the statements, said he had agreed with Andy Street's objections of the MP.

• Street had stated to the media the remarks were incorrect and described the area as a highly cohesive community.
• 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.

However, she added on 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.

Party Divisions

The shadow chancellor became the initial high-ranking Conservative to disassociate from Jenrick over the statements, telling a gathering that they were not words that I would have used.

Jenrick repeatedly told journalists at the conference that he stood by the comments and did not resile from them as it would be wrong to shut down an important debate that the nation needs to engage in about social cohesion.

When a Sky News journalist suggested that his comments could embolden far-right groups, Jenrick said it was an absolutely disgraceful and ridiculous question.

Initial Remarks

In his initial comments, Jenrick 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.

This is not the nation I desire to reside in. I prefer a country with proper integration. Skin color or religion is not the issue—naturally not. However, I advocate for people coexisting together, not leading separate existences. That is not the ideal lifestyle for our country.