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Keir Starmer has criticized the shadow justice secretary's statements about not seeing another white face in areas of Birmingham, stating the MP was hard to take seriously.

Leadership Campaign Accusations

Starmer implied that his comments were linked to a covert Conservative bid for leadership and asserted 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.

The shadow justice secretary has been criticized for igniting a wave of divisive sentiment after he reiterated his complaint despite criticism from individuals including the former Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street.

Local Rejection and Defense

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

• The former mayor had stated to the media the remarks were wrong and portrayed the area as a very integrated place.
• In my view, Andy Street's comments were accurate, Starmer said. Having served as mayor for an extended period, Andy Street possesses deep familiarity with the locality.

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

However, she added on BBC Breakfast: 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 initial high-ranking Conservative to distance himself from his colleague over the statements, telling a gathering that they were not words that I would have used.

The MP repeatedly informed interviewers at the conference that he supported the comments 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 Sky News journalist suggested that his remarks could encourage extremist organizations, Jenrick said it was an completely unacceptable and absurd question.

Initial Remarks

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 recording in the area he 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.