Robert Jenrick has been criticised after telling activists he ‘didn’t see another white face’ during a trip to Birmingham – something Kemi Badenoch said was a ‘statement of fact’
Kemi Badenoch has refused to slap down leadership rival Robert Jenrick after he told Tories he “didn’t see another white face” during a trip to Birmingham.
Mrs Badenoch described the comment, which emerged after the The Guardian obtained a secret recording, as a “factual statement”. Mr Jenrick was accused of racism after making the comment following a 90-minute visit to Handsworth in Birmingham to film a video.
The Conservative leader told BBC Breakfast the report should be taken “with a pinch of salt” and went on: “But the fact is, these are recordings out of context. I don’t know what was being discussed before he said that.
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“But in and of itself, it’s a factual statement. If he said he didn’t see another white face, he might have been making an observation. There’s nothing wrong with making observations.
“But what he and I both agree with is that there are not enough people integrating. There are many people who are creating separate communities.”
She added: “I heard that one of the MPs of that area was accusing him of racism. I completely disagree with that. I want to make that very clear. In fact, I’m quite worried about these sectarian MPs who’ve been elected in Birmingham, very, very divisive politics, people who are more interested in talking about Gaza than what’s happening in the UK.”
The Shadow Justice Secretary reportedly said it was not the kind of country he wanted to live in. After mentioning the lack of white people, he then went on to say it was not about “the colour of your skin or your faith” and he wanted people to live alongside each other.
Mr Jenrick’s comments were reportedly recorded during a dinner at the Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association dinner in March.
According to the Guardian, he told the dinner: “I went to Handsworth in Birmingham the other day to do a video on litter and it was absolutely appalling. It’s as close as I’ve come to a slum in this country. But the other thing I noticed there was that it was one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to. In fact, in the hour and a half I was filming news there I didn’t see another white face.
“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.”
The area’s independent MP Ayoub Khan told the newspaper: “The claims made by the shadow justice secretary are not only wildly false but also incredibly irresponsible. He has misrepresented a storied and diverse community, awkwardly distorting the product of an all-out bin strike to fit his culture-warrior narrative filled with far-right cliches.
“What could be seen on the streets that day … was not the result of some failure of multiculturalism. It is the result of 14 years of sustained austerity measures under the Tory governments that he so loyally served, combined with continued neglect and mismanagement by the Labour-run council.”
Georgie Laming, the director of campaigns at Hope Not Hate, said: “If Robert Jenrick truly wants to see people live alongside each other, he shouldn’t make such inflammatory remarks. Talking down communities plays into the hands of far right.”
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