Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has been accused by a Church of England bishop of making remarks capable of stirring up division after the Tory politician complained he “didn’t see another white face” during a visit to an area of Birmingham.
Mr Jenrick has defended his comments, insisting he “won’t shy away” from issues of integration.
But the Bishop of Birmingham, Right Reverend Michael Volland, branded Mr Jenrick’s comments about the area of Handsworth “entirely wrong” and said he had been dismayed and disappointed to hear them.
The Guardian obtained a recording of Mr Jenrick making the comments about a 90-minute visit to Handsworth earlier this year, before adding: “That’s not the kind of country I want to live in.”
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has defended him, saying she did not agree with accusations of racism and that there is “nothing wrong with making observations”.
In a letter to Mr Jenrick, published on Tuesday, the Birmingham bishop said: “Comments like those you have made have the potential to generate anxiety and stir up division.
“They can feed into a harmful narrative that provides fuel for a fire of toxic nationalism.
“It is deeply unhelpful for politicians to make such comments and I encourage you to think about how your rhetoric might contribute towards unity rather than stoking division.”
The bishop invited Mr Jenrick to return to Handsworth for another visit and said he “would be delighted to introduce you to a wide range of local residents who are entirely committed to the flourishing of their community and the wellbeing of its people”.
Former Tory mayor Andy Street has said Mr Jenrick was “wrong” about Handsworth, while the Labour Party said his comments “cross a red line”.
The remarks, from an Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association dinner on March 14, saw Mr Jenrick go on to say it was “not about the colour of your skin or your faith”, but about people “living alongside each other”.
Handsworth’s population by ethnicity is 9% white, 25% Pakistani, 23% Indian and 10% Bangladeshi, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
Asked if he had any regrets about his comments, Mr Jenrick told BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday: “No, not at all and I won’t shy away from these issues.”
He said he had brought up skin colour “because it’s incredibly important that we have a fully integrated society regardless of the colour of their skin or the faith that they abide by”.
He added: “I think it’s a very dangerous place if we have a country where people are living in ghettoised communities, where people are not living together side by side in harmonious communities… we’ve seen the damage that that can do in society so it’s incredibly important that we resolve this.”
He linked the terror attack in north Manchester last week with a lack of integration in comments to Sky News.
He said: “Look, just the other day here in Manchester, we saw a man who had lived in this country for 30 years, but was clearly not integrated into our society, clearly did not share British values, committing an appalling terrorist attack by going to a synagogue and killing British Jews.
“That is, at the extreme level, where failures of integration lead, and that’s why we’ve got to have a debate about this, and not have it shut down whenever anyone puts their head above the parapet and talks about it publicly.”
The leaked comments come after Mrs Badenoch told her party’s conference she would not allow anyone on the right to tell her children “they do not belong in their own country”.
The Tory leader, defending her shadow minister, told BBC Breakfast he had made a “factual statement”.
She said: “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.
“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.”
She told LBC Radio: “Both Rob and I are worried about integration.
“I’m a black woman, he is a white man, we have the same concerns that our country is fragmenting.”
Mr Jenrick, who had been in Handsworth filming a video on litter, also reportedly said the area was “as close as I’ve come to a slum in this country”.
In the leaked remarks, he added: “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.”
West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker told BBC Radio WM he found the comments racist.
“I do. Because he’s set out intentionally to draw on a particular issue – people’s colour – to identify the point he wanted to make,” he said.
