"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."
"I don't think this is where the debate should be about how many faces people see on the street and what they look like."
"Putting it bluntly, Robert is wrong, he told the BBC's Newsnight. 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."
Robert Jenrick said he visited Handsworth to film litter and described it as almost a slum, claiming he did not see another white face during filming and calling it poorly integrated. The remarks drew criticism from MPs and former West Midlands mayor Andy Street, who said Handsworth is now a well integrated area with a mixture of South Asian, black, white and other residents. Kemi Badenoch defended Jenrick's right to make a factual observation but said public debate should not centre on how many faces people see or what people look like. A spokesperson initially declined to comment and Jenrick later defended his comments.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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