Robert Jenrick doubles down on claims he 'didn't see another white face' during Birmingham visit
The shadow justice secretary described the area as being 'as close as I've come to a slum in this country'
Robert Jenrick has doubled down on comments he made where he complained of "not seeing another white face" during a visit to an area of Birmingham.
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The Shadow Secretary of State for Justice was caught on film making the statements on the back of a 90-minute visit to Handsworth, where he was recording a video on litter.
Mr Jenrick made the comments at the Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association back in March, which were later obtained by the Guardian.
He stated the area was one of the worst integrated parts of the country and reportedly said: "It's as close as I've come to a slum in this country."
But the former cabinet minister has today defended his stance, stating he had "no regrets."
"I won’t shy away from these issues," he said.
“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.
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"We’ve seen the damage that that can do in society, so it's incredibly important that we resolve this."
“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," he told Sky News.
"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.”
Jenrick's defence of his own comments comes after he was backed by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who said they should be "taken with a pinch of salt."
"But the fact is, these are recordings out of context. I don't know what was being discussed before he said that," Ms Badenoch told the BBC.
"If he said he didn't see another white face, he might have been making an observation."