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The Prime Minister has condemned Robert Jenrick's remarks about not seeing another white face in areas of Birmingham, stating the politician was difficult to regard credibly.

Leadership Campaign Accusations

Starmer implied that his comments were part of a covert 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.

Jenrick has been accused of fuelling a wave of divisive sentiment after he reiterated his complaint despite backlash from figures including the ex-Tory mayor of the region, Andy Street.

Community Rejection and Defense

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

• Street had told the media the remarks were wrong and portrayed the area as a highly cohesive community.
• I think that what Andy Street said was right, Starmer 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.

But she also told 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 Disagreements

Mel Stride became the first senior Tory to disassociate from his colleague over the comments, informing a gathering that they were not words that I would have used.

Jenrick repeatedly informed interviewers at the event that he supported the comments 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 integration.

When a Sky News journalist put it to him that his comments could embolden extremist organizations, he said it was an completely unacceptable and absurd question.

Original Remarks

In his original remarks, the MP said Handsworth was one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to. Specifically, in the 90 minutes he was recording in the area he didn’t see another white face.

This is not the nation I desire to reside in. I prefer a country with proper integration. Skin color or religion is not the issue—naturally not. However, I advocate for people coexisting together, not leading separate existences. That is not the ideal lifestyle for our country.