Residents of a Birmingham suburb commented on Robert Jenrick’s statements after he labelled the area “a slum” with “no white faces”, while statistics do show white British residents are in a huge minority in the area.
The Shadow Justice Secretary’s comments, made during a Conservative Association dinner and later on a podcast, concerned the population of Handsworth, a historic centre for immigration in the northwest of the city.
The 43 year old politician had claimed that he “didn’t see any white faces” in the area. The news comes as Robert Jenrick skewers David Lammy with brutal attack in Tory conference speech.
Some locals back Jenrick claims as residents reveal truth about area
Among the few on the ground in Handsworth today who the Daily Mail reported as agreeing with Jenrick’s comments were a Latvian mother who gave her name only as Lilija, 39. The housekeeper moved to the UK in 2010 with her husband and settled in Handsworth.
She said: “He (Mr Jenrick) is correct. There are many Indian and black people here. It’s always been like this, but it isn’t a problem.”
Mother reveals only complaint about neighbourhood
The mother-of-two said her only gripe with the area was the crime. “My bicycle was stolen” she said. “But the police just say ‘you should have insurance’.”
Tanja Muhlbauer, 29, a German from Munich has lived in Handsworth since 2018. The street vendor said: “I know a couple of white people here but it’s true there are not too many.”
Amongst the few other white people approached by the Mail were a Polish man who couldn’t speak English and an English man in his 20s who declined to comment.
Resident makes stark claim about area’s demographics
Another local claimed: “The only white people you see around here are on the buses passing through”.
A British Asian who runs a printing and photography business in the area, but who asked not to be named, recalled how he had once been called up and accused of being racist – because a passer-by noticed his window display only contained photographs of black or Asian subjects.
“I do passport photographs and portraits for people and there were some examples of my work in the shop window, but because none of the photographs were of white people I was accused of being racist”, he said. “The truth is that the photographs reflect my clients here.
Business owner recalls decades of demographic shift
“There used to be more white people in this area, but ever since the shop opened in 1981 it has always been predominantly black and Asian around here.
“The only problem I have is drug dealing on a car park behind the road – it happens in broad daylight.”
Others hit back at Jenrick’s Comments
Rishi Lothiyi, a business consultant who was born and raised in Handsworth, suggested that Mr Jenrick must’ve been ‘drunk’ to imply the area had an integration issue. The father of two stated that he never encountered any racism while growing up in the district, unless he ventured “went into the city centre”.
Ranjit Singh, the landlord of one of the only local pubs to remain in the area, The Cross Guns, celebrated the diversity of his clientele, stating: “I see white people in here all the time. We have lots of Irish and English customers. Everybody gets along around here.”
John Silwood, a 35 year old roofer, echoed this sentiment, saying: “Diversity is what makes Handsworth.”
A mother, who identified herself only as Lilija, agreed that the neighbourhood is mostly from non-British white origins, but insisted this “isn’t a problem”.
Birmingham City Council data reveals that only 1,032 of Handsworth’s 11,814 residents are white, equivalent to 8.7 per cent. The main ethnic groups are Indian (2,736 residents) and Pakistani (2,962 residents).
Vinod Parekh, a man who relocated to the area from Fiji 35 years ago, told the Daily Mail: “We have people coming into our business from outside of Birmingham, they come from all over the country.
“We have a lot of people making a business here. What difference does it make what colour of skin they have?”.
Another local resident, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed: “When I heard what he (Mr Jenrick) had said, my first thought was ‘haven’t we heard this rubbish before?’ You don’t hear people criticising the Cotswolds, which is only an hour’s drive from here, being wall-to-wall white faces, but maybe that’s because it’s full of wealthy individuals.”
The uproar in the neighbourhood following Mr Jenrick’s comments was so strong yesterday that local politicians felt compelled to voice their concern. Community leader Bishop Dr Desmond Jaddoo demanded that Mr Jenrick apologise for his “divisive” remarks.
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, stated: “Robert Jenrick’s comments are disgraceful. It shows a complete lack of respect for the people of our region. Handsworth is a community where people of different backgrounds all live and work side by side.”
Mr Jenrick, who served as Minister of State for Immigration under Rishi Sunak, made the controversial remarks after filming a video for GB News about litter in Handsworth during the initial days of the city’s all-out bin strike. However, he doubled down on them – stating Birmingham “did look like a slum” – in a podcast for the Daily Telegraph yesterday.
Speaking at a dinner earlier this year, the father of three said: “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.
“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.”