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The Prime Minister has criticized Robert Jenrick's remarks about the lack of white faces in parts of Birmingham, suggesting the politician was difficult to regard credibly.

Political Ambitions Claims

The prime minister suggested that his comments were linked to a covert Conservative leadership campaign and asserted he did not believe they accurately reflected the area of Handsworth.

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

Jenrick has been criticized for igniting a wave of divisive sentiment after he reiterated his remarks despite backlash from figures including the former Conservative mayor of the region, Andy Street.

Local Rejection and Defense

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

• The former mayor had stated to the media the remarks were incorrect and described Handsworth as a highly cohesive community.
• In my view, Andy Street's comments were accurate, Starmer said. Andy Street obviously was mayor for a long time and knows the area very very well.

The Conservative leader, supported him, 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 first senior Tory to disassociate from his colleague over the statements, telling 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 retract 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 remarks could encourage extremist organizations, Jenrick said it was an completely unacceptable and absurd question.

Initial Statements

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

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.