'Jenrick's comments are disgraceful': Mayor Richard Parker criticises top Tory over 'barely a white face' slur
West Midland mayor Richard Parker has described alleged comments by top Tory Robert Jenrick about the Handsworth area of Birmingham as 'disgraceful'.
Mr Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, reportedly told an Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association dinner that he 'didn’t see another white face' during a 90-minute visit to Handsworth, Birmingham earlier this year. 'That’s not the kind of country I want to live in,' he allegedly added, described the Birmingham suburb as 'as close as I’ve come to a slum in this country.'
Mr Parker said: “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.
“Birmingham is a proud, diverse city built by generations from every background. We don’t separate people by the colour of their skin - and that’s what Jenrick has done here with his comments.
"I’m incredibly sad but also very angry.“
Mr Parker said he was also concerned that there were Conservative politicians from the West Midlands in that room who failed to speak up.
"Silence in the face of this kind of rhetoric is not leadership," he said.
"People deserve more than politicians who talk our region down for political point scoring. They deserve respect."
Wolverhampton-born Mr Jenrick spoke about how his family moved to Bilston and his father worked in Coseley during his pitch to become Conservative leader at last year's party conference in Birmingham. He was eventually beaten into second place by Kemi Badenoch.
He attended Wolverhampton Grammar School, and also lived near Ludlow.
