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The Prime Minister has criticized Robert Jenrick's remarks about the lack of white faces in parts of Birmingham, stating the MP was hard to take seriously.

Leadership Campaign Accusations

The prime minister suggested that Jenrick's comments were part of a covert Tory bid for leadership 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.

Jenrick has been criticized for igniting a wave of divisive sentiment after he doubled down on his remarks despite criticism from individuals including the former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street.

Community Rejection and Defense

Starmer, who avoided directly addressing the comments, said he had supported Andy Street's criticisms of Jenrick.

• The former mayor had stated to the media the remarks were incorrect 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, supported Jenrick, saying he had made a factual statement and that there was nothing wrong with making observations.

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.

Party Divisions

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

The MP repeatedly informed interviewers at the event that he supported the comments and did not retract 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 remarks could encourage far-right groups, he said it was an absolutely disgraceful and ridiculous question.

Original Remarks

In his initial comments, Jenrick said Handsworth was one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to. In fact, in the 90 minutes he was recording in the area he didn’t see another white face.

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.