‘Incendiary, inaccurate, careless’: Handsworth locals reject Jenrick’s race claims

Business owners and residents in Handsworth have fiercely rejected claims by the shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, that the Birmingham area is “one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to”, describing the comments as “careless” and “ill-informed”.

Jenrick is facing growing criticism from ministers and MPs after the Guardian revealed comments he made at a dinner earlier this year, where he said he “didn’t see another white face” while filming in Handsworth and said it was not the kind of country he wanted to live in. It was “as close as I’ve come to a slum in this country”, he said.

After highlighting the lack of white people, Jenrick said it was not about “the colour of your skin or your faith” and he wanted people to live alongside each other.

David Volante, a shop manager at a pawnbrokers on Soho Road and director at the Soho Road business improvement district (BID), said Jenrick’s comment on not seeing another “white face” was a “highly inaccurate” portrayal of the area.

“I’m on [Soho Road] up to 50 hours a week from working and leisure time and there’s countless white faces on the road. As a white British man, I don’t feel under any minority, or under any safety threat to myself at all around here.”

Steven McLean, 54, who grew up in Handsworth in the 1970s, said the area had got a “lot of bad press over the years – some for good reason, a lot of it for bad reasons”, and described Jenrick’s comments as “purposefully incendiary”.

McLean, who was not aware of Jenrick’s comments before being asked, said “we know who that statement is for”, adding: “There’s a lot of sentiment that’s going to be whipped up. I think at best it’s careless.”

Maria, 65, who runs Davies’ West Indian Bakery on Soho Road and did not want to share her last name, was also not aware of Jenrick’s comments. When asked about the remarks, Maria said they were not true and her customers were diverse. “We have Chinese, we have white, we have Asians, we have eastern Europeans, we have Africans. I’m African, so it’s very diverse to me.”

According to Birmingham city council, the ethnicity of Handsworth is 25% Pakistani, 23% Indian, 10% Bangladeshi, 16% Black African or Black Caribbean, 10% mixed or other ethnic group and 9% white.

A 23-year-old woman born and raised in Handsworth, who did not want to be named, said the area was “quite nice if you get to know it” adding diverse communities “contribute a lot to this area”.

The woman described Jenrick’s remarks as “not great” and said they came from someone who was not born or raised in the area. “They just depict what they see on the outside.”

She added: “If you were to come at a specific time, yes there might be more Asian people or more mixed people than white. But sometimes if you come, you might find more white people than there’s mixed people. So it depends what time you come, which area you go to.”

A spokesperson for Jenrick initially declined to comment on the Guardian’s revelations. But later on Monday, Jenrick defended his comments, saying: “Six separate government reports over 20 years have highlighted the problem of parallel communities and called for a frank and honest conversation about the issue.

“The situation is no better today. Unlike other politicians, I won’t shy away from this issue. We have to integrate communities if we are to be a united country.”

In the comments, made at the Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association dinner on 14 March, Jenrick also 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.”

Bob Balu, the chair of the Soho Road BID, who was born in Handsworth and now lives in Wolverhampton, said the description of Handsworth as a “slum” was wrong.

“I’d love Robert to come here and sit with us, have a coffee or cup of chai, and tell me exactly what he’s saying” he said, adding: “We’ve got a waiting list of businesses. International businesses want to set up business in this ‘slum’.”

Volante, who also criticised Jenrick’s description of a “slum” as “ill-informed”, said Jenrick’s comments could have a “massive” impact on businesses in the area.

“When people are making accusations and comments like that, it gives people an easy choice to go somewhere else to spend their money. It doesn’t help businesses, it doesn’t help the local community and it’s very damning to everybody.

“This is not a no-go zone, this is an area where people walk in harmony on the street, acknowledge each other and get on respectfully. Those kinds of comments are a detriment to people’s livelihoods,” he said.

Parminder Bansil, 70, and Harbinder Bansil, 67, whose son lives in Handsworth, said they were hoping to move to the area and did not agree with Jenrick’s comments.

Harbinder said she volunteers with the local Gurdwara, adding: “The Gurdwara helps anybody and everybody, whatever colour, whatever age you are.”

Parminder added Jenrick may have made the comments to get “publicity”, adding “the more controversial comments they make, the more publicity they’re going to get”.