THE Bishop of Birmingham, Dr Michael Volland, has expressed “dismay and disappointment” in response to remarks by Robert Jenrick, who, after a visit to Handsworth, said that he had not seen “one other white face” within the inner-city area.
Mr Jenrick, the Conservative MP for Newark and the Shadow Justice Secretary, was recorded discussing integration at an Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association dinner in March. His remark was published by The Guardian on Tuesday.
The MP reportedly said that Handsworth was “as close as I’ve come to a slum on this country”. He continued: “But the opposite thing I noticed there was that it was one in all the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to. In fact, within the hour-and-a-half I used to be filming news there, I didn’t see one other white face.
“That’s not the sort of country I need to live in. I need to live in a rustic where individuals are properly integrated. It’s not in regards to the color of your skin or your faith, after all it isn’t, but I need people to be living alongside one another, not parallel lives. That’s not the best way we wish to live as a rustic.”
In an open letter published on Tuesday, Dr Volland said that he rejected Mr Jenrick’s comments and had invited him to go to Handsworth again, where the Bishop would introduce him “to a wide selection of local residents who’re entirely committed to the flourishing of their community and the wellbeing of its people”.
He went on to explain Mr Jenrick’s remarks as a “harmful narrative” that had “the potential to generate anxiety and fire up division”. He wrote: “It is deeply unhelpful for politicians to make such comments and I encourage you to take into consideration how your rhetoric might contribute towards unity quite than stoking division.”
Dr Volland said that he had recently visited St Michael’s C of E Primary Academy to congratulate the college on its Outstanding Ofsted result. He said that it had an “energetic approach to making sure full integration of youngsters and families on this splendidly diverse community with many shared values”.
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, defended Mr Jenrick, but said that she would take the Guardian article “with a pinch of salt”.
She told the BBC on Tuesday: “The fact is, these are recordings out of context. I don’t know what was being discussed before he said that. But in and of itself, it’s a factual statement. If he said he didn’t see one other white face, he might need been making an commentary. There’s nothing fallacious with making observations.
“What he and I each agree with is that there should not enough people integrating. There are many people who find themselves creating separate communities.”
She continued: “I heard that one in all the MPs of that area was accusing him of racism. I completely disagree with that. I have the desire to make that very clear.”
Speaking on the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Wednesday, Ms Badenoch said in her keynote speech that she stood for a society “where individuals are judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.”
When asked about Mr Jenrick’s remarks, the Prime Minister said that it was “quite hard to take anything that Robert Jenrick says seriously [as] he’s clearly still running his leadership campaign”.
Mr Jenrick said that he stood by his comments, telling the Telegraph’s Daily T podcast on Tuesday: “I didn’t see a mixture of individuals on the streets. It was an commentary.” He said that individuals mustn’t, out of a “misplaced fear of being called racist”, stop debating integration.
