🔗 Share this article Starmer Dismisses Jenrick's Birmingham Comments as Hard to Take Seriously. The Prime Minister has criticized the shadow justice secretary's remarks about the lack of white faces in areas of Birmingham, stating the politician was difficult to regard credibly. Political Ambitions 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 criticized for igniting a wave of divisive sentiment after he doubled down on his complaint despite backlash from individuals including the ex-Tory mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street. Local Rejection and Support The prime minister, who did not directly engage the statements, said he had supported Andy Street's objections of the MP. The former mayor had told BBC Newsnight the remarks were wrong and portrayed the area as a highly cohesive community. In my view, Andy Street's comments were accurate, 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 factual statement 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. Party Divisions Mel Stride became the initial high-ranking Conservative to disassociate from Jenrick over the comments, telling a Politico fringe event that they were not words that I would have used. Jenrick repeatedly informed journalists at the event that he supported the remarks and did not retract them as it would be wrong to shut down an important debate that the nation needs to engage in about social cohesion. When a reporter put it to him that his remarks could embolden far-right groups, Jenrick said it was an completely unacceptable and absurd inquiry. Initial Remarks In his initial comments, 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.