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Keir Starmer has criticized the shadow justice secretary's remarks about not seeing another white face in areas of Handsworth, stating the MP was difficult to regard credibly.

Political Ambitions Claims

Starmer suggested that Jenrick's comments were linked to a covert Tory bid for leadership and said he did not believe they painted a true picture the neighborhood of the Birmingham district.

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 remarks despite criticism from individuals including the ex-Tory mayor of the region, Andy Street.

Local Rejection and Support

Starmer, who avoided directly addressing the comments, said he had agreed with Andy Street's objections of Jenrick.

• Street had stated to the media the comments were wrong and described Handsworth as a very integrated place.
• 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, supported Jenrick, saying he had made a truthful observation and that there was no issue with noting realities.

However, she added on 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 Divisions

Mel Stride became the initial high-ranking Conservative to disassociate from his colleague over the statements, informing a Politico fringe event that they were phrases I would have avoided.

The MP repeatedly informed journalists at the conference 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 suggested that his remarks could encourage far-right groups, he said it was an absolutely disgraceful and ridiculous question.

Original Remarks

In his initial comments, the MP said Handsworth was one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to. Specifically, in the 90 minutes he was filming news there 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.