🔗 Share this article Starmer Criticizes Jenrick's Birmingham Comments as Hard to Take Seriously. The Prime Minister has criticized Robert Jenrick's remarks about the lack of white faces in areas of Handsworth, stating the politician was hard to take seriously. Leadership Campaign Claims Starmer suggested that his observations were linked to a stealth Conservative leadership campaign and said he did not believe they painted a true picture the area of Handsworth. It’s quite hard to take anything that Robert Jenrick says seriously; he’s clearly still running his leadership campaign. The shadow justice secretary has been accused of fuelling a wave of divisive sentiment after he reiterated his complaint despite criticism from figures including the former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, the former mayor. Community Response and Support The prime minister, who avoided directly addressing the statements, said he had supported Andy Street's criticisms of the MP. The former mayor had told BBC Newsnight the comments were wrong and described Handsworth 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 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. Internal Disagreements Mel Stride became the first senior Tory to disassociate from Jenrick over the statements, telling a gathering that they were not words that I would have used. Jenrick repeatedly told journalists at the conference that he stood by the remarks and did not resile from them as it would be wrong to shut down an important debate that the nation needs to engage in about integration. When a reporter suggested that his comments could embolden far-right groups, he said it was an completely unacceptable and absurd question. Initial Statements In his initial comments, Jenrick said the area was among the least cohesive locations I have visited. In fact, 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.