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Keir Starmer has criticized Robert Jenrick's statements about the lack of white faces in areas of Birmingham, suggesting the politician was hard to take seriously.

Leadership Campaign Accusations

Starmer suggested that Jenrick's observations were linked to a stealth Tory leadership campaign and said he did not believe they accurately reflected the neighborhood 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 fire of toxic nationalism after he reiterated his complaint despite backlash from individuals including the ex-Tory mayor of the region, the former mayor.

Local Response and Defense

The prime minister, who avoided directly addressing the statements, said he had agreed with Street's objections of the MP.

• Street had stated to BBC Newsnight the comments were incorrect and portrayed the area as a highly cohesive community.
• In my view, Andy Street's comments were accurate, the prime minister said. Andy Street obviously was mayor for a long time and knows the area very very well.

The Conservative leader, supported Jenrick, 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

The shadow chancellor became the first senior Tory to disassociate from his colleague over the comments, telling a Politico fringe event that they were phrases I would have avoided.

Jenrick repeatedly told interviewers at the conference that he stood by 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 integration.

When a reporter suggested that his remarks could encourage far-right groups, Jenrick said it was an absolutely disgraceful and ridiculous question.

Original Statements

In his original remarks, the MP said Handsworth was one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to. In fact, in the 90 minutes he was filming news there he observed no other white individuals.

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.