Robert Jenrick defends saying he has not 'seen another white face' in Birmingham as he condemns lack of integration
Robert Jenrick was defiant today after it emerged he complained about not 'seeing another white face' in a Birmingham neighbourhood.
The shadow justice secretary argued he was making a point about the lack of integration in Handsworth after leaked audio surfaced.
He was backed by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who dismissed the idea that there was any 'racism' behind the remarks.
Recalling the 90-minute visit earlier this year, Mr Jenrick said 'that's not the kind of country I want to live in'.
Addressing Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association on March 14 Mr Jenrick also stressed it was 'not about the colour of your skin or your faith' but about people 'living alongside each other'.
Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley responded to the leak to the Guardian by accusing the Tory frontbencher of judging 'his own level of comfort by whether there are other white faces around'.
But Mr Jenrick said he had been highlighting an important issue, suggesting the Manchester synagogue attack had been caused by failure to integrate.
'Six separate government reports over 20 years have highlighted the problem of parallel communities and called for a frank and honest conversation about the issue,' he said.
Leaked audio of Robert Jenrick making the remark about Handsworth has surfaced as he prepares to give his speech to Tory conference
'The situation is no better today. Unlike other politicians, I won't shy away from this issue. We have to integrate communities if we are to be a united country.'
He told Sky News: 'I want to live in a country which is well integrated. I want people to be living side-by-side, I never want to see segregated or even ghettoised communities. We want people of all skin colours, of all religions, to be living in harmonious, well-integrated communities with our kids growing up alongside each other.
'And I'm afraid in certain parts of the country, there are communities where that just isn't the case, and parts of Handsworth in Birmingham, where I was earlier in the year, a place I know quite well, growing up in the West Midlands, just don't resemble that. That makes me very worried.'
In a round of interviews at Tory conference in Manchester, Mrs Badenoch said: 'These are recordings out of context. I don't know what was being discussed before he said that.
'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.'
Immigration and integration has become an increasing focus of politics over recent months.
On Sunday Kemi Badenoch stressed the need for people who come to this country to adapt to British culture.
Speaking earlier this year, Mr Jenrick reportedly said: '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.'
Mr Jenrick said Birmingham 'did look like a slum' when he visited amid the bin strike, and his comments about not seeing a white face were an 'observation'.
'It did look like a slum,' he said at a live recording of the Telegraph's Daily T podcast.
He added: 'I didn't see a mix of people on the streets. It was an observation.'
Mr Jenrick said the reaction to the leaked recording was an effort to 'shut down' debate on the issue of integration.
He said there are 'pockets' of towns and cities that are largely segregated and that 'we should not back down' from talking about them.
He said people should not be stopped from talking about integration out of a 'misplaced fear of being called racist'.
Ms Turley told the Guardian: 'This weekend Kemi Badenoch said she stood against a politics that 'reduces people to categories and then pits them against each other'.
'Robert Jenrick in his leaked comments reduces people to the colour of their skin and judges his own level of comfort by whether there are other white faces around.
'His comments clearly cross a red line that his leader has rightly laid down.
'People of colour should not have to justify their Englishness or their Britishness, or their presence in this country to Robert Jenrick or anyone else.
'Robert Jenrick needs to urgently explain himself and why these comments are in any way compatible with what his party leader said yesterday.'
Mr Jenrick was backed by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who dismissed the idea that there was any 'racism' behind the remarks
Former Conservative West Midlands Mayor Andy Street told BBC Newsnight that Mr Jenrick was 'wrong' about the neighbourhood.
'Handsworth, it's come a hell of a long way in the 40 years since the last civil disturbances there and it's actually a very integrated place,' he said.
The ex-mayor said there was 'incredible hope, optimism and people taking part in education which is based around British values and thinking how they can make a contribution to the future of their region their city and their area'.
'That is not a definition of a slum,' he added.
