Inside city suburb Jenrick branded a slum with no white faces | UK | News

While residents of the Birmingham suburb have commented on comments made by Robert Jenrick after labeling the “No white faces” area “a slum”, statistics show white British residents are in a large 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 center of immigration in the north-west of the city.

The 43-year-old politician claimed that he “didn’t see any white faces” in the region. News inflates David Lammy with brutal attack on Robert Jenrick’s Tory Conference speech.

Some locals claim Jenrick as residents reveal truth about area

Among the few people on the ground in Handsworth today who the Daily Mail reported agreed with Jenrick’s comments was a Latvian mother who gave her name only as Lilija, 39. Cleaning moved to England with her husband in 2010, settling in Handsworth.

He said: “He (Mr Jenrick) is correct. There are a lot of Indian and Black people here. It’s always been that way, but it’s not a problem.”

Mother only expresses complaint about neighborhood

The mother of two said her only grip on the area was crime. “My bike was stolen,” he said. “But the police just say ‘you have to have insurance’.”

Tanja Muhlbauer, 29, a German from Munich, has lived in Handsworth since 2018. Street vendor: “I know a few white people here, but it’s true there aren’t many.” he said.

Among several other white people approached by the Post was a Polish man in his 20s who did not speak English.

Resident Claims Loyalty About Area Demographics

Another local claimed: “The only white people you see around here are on the buses passing by.”

A British Asian man who runs a printing and photography business in the area, but asked not to be named, recalled how he was once called out and accused of being racist – because a passerby noticed that a window display contained only photographs of black or Asian subjects.

“I do passport photos and portraits for people, and there were some examples of my work in the store window, but since none of the photos were of white people, I was accused of being racist,” he said. “The truth is, the photos reflect my clients here.

Business owner recalls decades of demographic change

“There were more white people in this area, but the shop has always been predominantly black and Asian since it opened in 1981.

“The only problem I have is drug dealing in a car park behind the road – it happens in broad daylight.”

Others hit back at Jenrick’s comments

Rishi Lothiyi, a business consultant born and raised in Handsworth, suggested Mr Jenrick must have been ‘drunk’ to imply the region had an integration problem. The father of two stated that he encountered no racism while growing up in the area, unless “they went downtown.”

Ranjit Singh, landlord of one of the only remaining local pubs in the area, Cross Guns, celebrated the diversity of his clientele: “I see white people in here all the time. We have a lot of Irish and British customers. Everybody comes in here.”

John Silwood, a 35-year-old roofer, echoed the sentiment: “Diversity is what makes Handsworth.”

One mother, who identified herself only as Lilija, acknowledged that the neighborhood was mostly of white, non-British backgrounds, but insisted it was “no problem”.

Birmingham City Council data reveals that just 1,032 of Handsworth’s 11,814 residents are white, the equivalent of 8.7 per cent. The main ethnic groups are Indian (2,736 inhabitants) and Pakistani (2,962 inhabitants).

Vinod Parekh, a man who moved to the area from Fiji 35 years ago, told the Daily Mail: “We have people coming into our business from outside Birmingham, they come from all over the country.

“There are a lot of people doing a job here. What difference does it make what color of skin they have?”

Another local resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “When I heard what (Mr Jenrick) said, my first thought was ‘Haven’t we heard of this rubbish before?’ You don’t hear people criticizing the Cotswolds, which is just an hour’s drive from here, with wall-to-wall white faces, but perhaps full of wealthy individuals. “

The turmoil in the neighborhood following Mr Jenrick’s comments was so strong yesterday that local politicians felt compelled to voice their concerns. Community leader Bishop Dr Desmond Jaddoo demanded Mr Jenrick apologize for his “divisive” remarks.

West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said: “Robert Jenrick’s comments are disgraceful. They show a complete lack of respect for the people of our area. Handsworth is a community where people from different backgrounds all live and work side by side.”

Mr Jenrick, who served as immigration secretary under Rishi Sunak, made the controversial comments after filming a video about Litter in Handsworth for GB News in the early days of the city’s All-Out Bin strike. However, he doubled down on a podcast for the Daily Telegraph yesterday, stating that Birmingham “looks like a slum”.

Speaking at a dinner earlier this year, the father-of-three said: “I went to Handsworth in Birmingham the other day to make a video about litter and it was absolutely horrendous.

“It’s as close to a slum as I’ve ever come in this country. But the other thing I noticed was that it was one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been.”

“In fact, in the hour and a half I was shooting news, I didn’t see another white face.

“This is 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 color of your skin or your faith, of course it isn’t. But I want people to live with each other, not parallel lives. That’s not the right way we want to live as a country.”