Tories urged to act over 'Jenrick's racist words'

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick was criticised for comments he made about Handsworth

Trade unions have called for the Conservative Party to take action against MP Robert Jenrick after he said a district of Birmingham had no visible white faces.

The shadow justice secretary was revealed to have made the comments about Handsworth in March and included comparing it to a slum and being "one of the worst integrated places" he had ever been to.

Following criticism of the Tory MP's statements, the TUC, along with 11 unions, signed a letter condemning his comments as "racism" and urged his party to remove the whip from him.

Jenrick has said he had "no regrets" about the comments, and strongly rejected the claim they were racist. The Conservatives have been approached for comment.

The letter has been signed by representatives of the TUC, Aslef, BFAWU, Prospect, Equity, GMB Midlands, Musicians' Union, NASUWT, PCS Midlands, RMT, Unite and Usdaw.

It said Jenrick's words were aimed "squarely" at members they represented and the unions stood together "in calling out his racist characterisation".

'Offensive and dangerous'

"This is not a concern about the issues facing working-class communities or even about how those communities are integrated into our society. This is racism," the letter added.

It described Handsworth as a "vibrant, diverse, working-class community" and said its residents had contributed "immensely" to Birmingham.

"To reduce this thriving community to the absence of 'white faces' is offensive and dangerous," the letter continued.

"At a time of increased division, with violent and racist incidents on the increase, we expect more from senior politicians than the repetition of far-right talking points."

The unions accused the Tories of refusing to address the "racist narratives", adding: "We call on the leadership of the Conservative Party to take immediate action and suspend the whip from Robert Jenrick."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch defended Jenrick's comments

Earlier this week, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch defended Jenrick's comments and said they were made during the bin strike in Birmingham.

"Rubbish piled up in the streets and what were the politicians focusing on - airports in Pakistan and Gaza," she told the BBC.

"We need people to have their eyes focused on what is going on in this country."

The comments made by Jenrick were reportedly recorded during a dinner in March and were published by the Guardian this week.

'Not about skin colour'

During the recording, he said he had spent an hour-and-a-half in Handsworth and had not seen another white face.

"[But] 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," he added.

Asked later on BBC Radio 5 Live as to whether he regretted the comments, Jenrick said: "No, not at all, and I won't shy away from these issues."

He said he brought up skin colour "because it's incredibly important we have a fully-integrated society".

"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," he said.