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The Prime Minister has criticized Robert Jenrick's remarks about the lack of white faces in parts of Handsworth, suggesting the politician was hard to take seriously.

Leadership Campaign Accusations

The prime minister implied that his comments were part of a stealth Tory leadership campaign and said he did not believe they accurately reflected the area of Handsworth.

I find it difficult to regard Robert Jenrick's statements as credible; he's obviously continuing 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 former Conservative mayor of the region, the former mayor.

Local Response and Support

The prime minister, who did not directly engage the statements, said he had agreed with Andy Street's criticisms of the MP.

• Street had stated to the media the comments 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.

The Conservative leader, supported Jenrick, saying he had made a truthful observation and that there was no issue with noting realities.

But she also told BBC Breakfast: 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.

Internal Disagreements

Mel Stride became the first senior Tory to distance himself from his colleague over the statements, informing a Politico fringe event that they were phrases I would have avoided.

Jenrick repeatedly informed journalists at the conference that he supported the comments and did not retract 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 put it to him that his comments could encourage far-right groups, he said it was an completely unacceptable and absurd question.

Original Statements

In his initial comments, Jenrick 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 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.