Keir Starmer has criticised Robert Jenrick for complaining about “not seeing another white face” in parts of Birmingham, suggesting the shadow justice secretary was “hard to take seriously”. The prime minister said Jenrick’s comments were part of a stealth Conservative leadership campaign and did not paint a true picture of Handsworth, which Jenrick had described as “as close as I’ve come to a slum in this country”.
Jenrick has been accused of fuelling a “fire of toxic nationalism” after he doubled down on his remarks despite criticism from the former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street. At a Conservative dinner in March, Jenrick said he did not see another white face in Handsworth and that it was not the kind of country he wanted to live in due to a lack of integration.
Asked about the remarks while en route to India, Starmer said he agreed with Street’s criticisms that the comments were “wrong” and that Handsworth was a “very integrated place”. Starmer added: “We need no lessons or lectures from Robert Jenrick on any of this. He’s clearly just engaging in a leadership campaign.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch defended Jenrick, calling his remarks a “factual statement” but said the debate should not be about “how many faces people see on the street”. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride became the first senior Tory to distance himself, saying the words were “not words that I would have used”. Jenrick has stood by his comments, arguing it would be wrong to “shut down an important debate” about integration.
