Robert Jenrick was “merely pointing out a fact” when he said he “didn’t see another white face” in an area of Birmingham, the Conservative Party’s chair has said.
A recording of shadow justice secretary Mr Jenrick at a Conservative dinner in March was released by the Guardian, in which he said Handsworth “was one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to”.
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“In fact, in the hour and a half I was filming news there, I didn’t see another white face,” he said.
“That’s not the kind of country I want to live in.”
He said it was “not about the colour of your skin or your faith” but about people not being “integrated”.
His comments have been heavily criticised by Birmingham’s community leaders, while Labour’s West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker told Sky News he was “shocked and truly appalled”.
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But Conservative Party chair Kevin Hollinrake defended his colleague’s comments, telling Sky News: “I think Robert was merely pointing out a fact.
“You go to some places like Handsworth and other parts of the country, parts of Dewsbury, Bradford, Leicester, where you see just a single culture, a single ethnicity in some parts of those locations.
“So we don’t think that’s a healthy thing, a community should be integrated.
“This isn’t about skin colour, as Rob clearly pointed out.
“This is about culture and there are real concerns that some cultures are completely separating themselves from mainstream society.”
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Mr Hollinrake said that because Mr Jenrick was not talking about race, the comments cannot be racist.
“I don’t believe it’s divisive and racist,” he said.
“I think where society does not come together, when we let those kinds of separation entrench itself.
“So we should not shy away from these difficult issues, where they exist and if, if people can see quite clearly for themselves.
“Some communities are deliberately separating themselves from mainstream society. That cannot be healthy.”
On Tuesday, Mr Jenrick doubled down on his comments, saying he would not “shy away” from issues of integration.
