A top member ofKemi Badenoch’sConservative shadow cabinet was recorded complaining about not seeing ‘another white face’ while walking aroundBirmingham.
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, was also heard suggesting a place where that could happen was not the kind of place he wanted to live in.
In the recording, reported bythe Guardian, Jenrick says his concerns are ‘of course’ not about people’s faith or the colour of their skin.
He adds: ‘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 clip reportedly comes from a dinner held by the Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association, just after Jenrick finished filming a segment in Birmingham forGB News.
He is heard talking about a video he made about litter in the suburb of Handsworth near the centre of the Midlands city.
Jenrick said: ‘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.’
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The shadow justice secretary stood by his remarks yesterday, saying: ‘Six separategovernmentreports over 20 years have highlighted the problem of parallel communities and called for a frank and honest conversation about the issue.
‘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.’
However, he was contradicted by the former Conservative Mayor for theWest MidlandsSir Andy Street, who toldBBCNewsnight: ‘Putting it bluntly, Robert is wrong.
‘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.’
Local business owner Vinod Parekh said: ‘We have a lot of people making a business here. What difference does it make what colour of skin they have?
‘When the wedding season starts, which is our busy time, we have all kinds of people coming here.’
He added: ‘We are certainly not a slum either. On this street there are lots of businesses and shops.
‘We are booming, it is not right to say it’s a slum. I live here with my wife and I am proud to live in an area which is diverse.’
Community leader Bishop Dr Desmond Jaddoo asked: ‘Are we really going back to the days of “No Irish, no blacks, no dogs”?
‘Handsworth is a melting pot and birthplace of the Windrush Generation when people moved here to rebuild this country.
‘These people were not immigrants, they were British.
‘Robert Jenrick should apologise for what he said and I would like to invite him to come here and take a walkabout with me.’
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In an appearance on BBC Breakfast this morning, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said her colleague could have been ‘making an observation’.
She added: ‘I wasn’t there so I can’t say how many faces he saw, but the point is that there are many people in our country who are not integrating.’
The clip, believed to have been recorded on March 14, has emerged as Conservatives gather inManchesterfor their annual party conference.
Jenrick – who is widely seen as aspiring for the role of leader if Badenoch was to step down – has been a top draw at fringe events since the gathering kicked off on Sunday.
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