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The Prime Minister has criticized Robert Jenrick's statements about not seeing another white face in parts of Birmingham, suggesting the politician was hard to take seriously.

Leadership Campaign Claims

Starmer suggested that his observations were linked to a covert Tory leadership campaign 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.

The shadow justice secretary has been criticized for igniting a wave of divisive sentiment after he reiterated his remarks despite criticism from individuals including the former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street.

Community Response and Defense

Starmer, who did not directly engage the comments, said he had agreed with Andy Street's criticisms of Jenrick.

• The former mayor had told the media the remarks were wrong and described the area as a highly cohesive community.
• I think that what Andy Street said was right, Starmer said. Andy Street obviously was mayor for a long time and knows the area very very well.

The Conservative leader, defended Jenrick, saying he had made a factual statement and that there was nothing wrong with making observations.

But she also told BBC Breakfast: In my opinion, the discussion should not focus on the number or appearance of individuals seen on streets.

Party Disagreements

Mel Stride became the first senior Tory to distance himself 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 resile from them as it would be wrong to end a crucial discussion that we have to have as a country about social cohesion.

When a reporter suggested that his comments could encourage extremist organizations, he said it was an absolutely disgraceful and ridiculous question.

Initial Statements

In his initial comments, Jenrick said Handsworth was among the least cohesive locations I have visited. In fact, in the 90 minutes he was recording in the area 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.