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

Political Ambitions Accusations

The prime minister suggested that Jenrick's comments were linked to a stealth Conservative bid for leadership 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 wave of divisive sentiment after he reiterated his complaint despite criticism from figures including the former Conservative mayor of the region, the former mayor.

Local Rejection and Support

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

• Street had stated to BBC Newsnight the remarks were wrong and described Handsworth 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 him, saying he had made a truthful observation and that there was nothing wrong with making observations.

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

Internal Divisions

Mel Stride became the first senior Tory to distance himself from his colleague over the comments, informing a Politico fringe event that they were not words that I would have used.

Jenrick repeatedly informed interviewers at the conference that he stood by 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 Sky News journalist put it to him that his comments could embolden far-right groups, Jenrick said it was an completely unacceptable and absurd inquiry.

Initial Statements

In his initial comments, the MP said the area 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 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.