Tory MP labels area with Indian and Pakistani residents as ‘slum’ in UK, gets slammed
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Tory MP labels area with Indian and Pakistani residents as ‘slum’ in UK, gets slammed")
British MP and shadow minister Robert Jenrick Photograph: (AFP)
The remarks of Robert Jenrick have roiled the residents, business owners, and political leaders, who described the area as vibrant and diverse and attacked him for painting a wrong image. West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker accused him of trying to divide communities for political gain.
British MP and shadow minister Robert Jenrick branded the multicultural Soho Road locality of Birmingham a ‘slum’ and ‘one of the worst integrated places’ in the United Kingdom. His remarks about the locality, home to Indian and Pakistani communities, triggered a severe backlash from the locals, business leaders, and politicians. Senior Tory MP Robert Jenrick has sparked widespread outrage with his remarks about Soho Road in Handsworth, Birmingham, according to the Daily Mail. Jenrick’s remarks drew sharp criticism from MP Ayoub Khan and Mayor Richard Parker, who condemned them as divisive and racially charged. The residents of the area also slammed Jenrick, and hailed the area as vibrant and diverse.
Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary, made the remarks during a Conservative Association dinner in March after spending 90 minutes in the area filming a GB News segment about litter during a bin strike, the Daily Mail reported.
“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,” said the Guardian report, quoting his speech.
“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,” it added.
Residents, business owners, and political leaders slam Jenrick
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The Tory MP’s remarks have roiled the residents, business owners, and political leaders, who described the area as vibrant and diverse and attacked him for painting a wrong image.
The Birmingham City Council data cited by the Daily Mail says 8.7% of Handsworth’s population is white, with the majority being of Indian (2,736 residents) and Pakistani (2,962 residents) descent.
Rishi Lothiyi, a British Indian consultant who grew up in Handsworth and married Kerry, a white British woman, said the MP must have been “drunk” to call the area poorly integrated. He described Soho Road as a “melting pot of cultures”.
Ranjit Singh, the landlord of the last pub in the area, The Cross Guns, said his customers came from all colours and creeds, the Daily Mail report added.
“I see white people here all the time. We have lots of Irish and English customers. Everybody gets along around here,” he said.
Ayoub Khan, the MP for Perry Barr, called Jenrick’s remarks “repulsive” and “disingenuous”, adding that they carried “undertones of racism”. Bishop Desmond Jaddoo demanded an apology from Jenrick, calling his statements “divisive”.
‘Jenrick trying to divide communities for political gain’
Liz Davies, a retired teacher, said she has lived peacefully among Asian, Black, and Eastern European neighbours for over 40 years, and called the MP’s remarks “ignorant and ridiculous.”
West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker accused Jenrick of trying to divide communities for political gain.
“Handsworth is a community where people of different backgrounds live and work side by side,” said Parker and accused Jenrick of separating “people by the colour of their skin”.
Most locals questioned Jenrick’s understanding of integration in modern Britain.
Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said, “Robert Jenrick in his leaked comments reduces people to the colour of their skin and judges his own level of comfort by whether there are other white faces around.”
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