𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has sought to sow division in Conservative ranks by claiming Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick is running a campaign for the Tory leadership.

Mr Jenrick finished second to Kemi Badenoch in last year’s contest and Sir Keir accused him of continuing to pursue the top job.

He is one of the highest profile members of the shadow cabinet and has vociferously attacked the Government on issues including immigration.

“He’s clearly still running his leadership campaign,” Sir Keir said.

This week Mr Jenrick warned of the dangers facing Britain if people live in “ghettoised communities” and fail to integrate.

But the Prime Minister batted away Mr Jenrick’s concerns, saying: “We’re working hard on questions of integration but we need no lessons or lectures from Robert Jenrick on any of this.”

Sir Keir’s attempt to paint Mr Jenrick as a potential threat to Mrs Badenoch’s leadership comes a week after his own Labour conference was marred by speculation Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham would seek to oust him.

Mr Jenrick became the focus of controversy when a recording surfaced of him saying Handsworth in Birmingham was “one of the worst-integrated places” he had seen; he described not seeing “another white face” in the hour and a half he was there.

Mr Jenrick said integration was not about the “colour of your skin, or your faith” but wanted people to “be living alongside each other, not parallel lives”.

He said this week he did not regret the comments and would not “shy away” from these issues.

However, former Conservative West Midlands Mayor Sir Andy Street said the Shadow Justice Secretary was “wrong” and the area was “very integrated”.

The Prime Minister told reporters while en route to a trade mission in India: “I think that what Andy Street said was right. Andy Street obviously was mayor for a long time and knows the area very very well.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has voiced similar concerns to Mr Jenrick, stating the Government must do more to promote integration and should not turn a blind eye to issues for fear of “being labelled racists”.

She told the BBC: “There are numerous parts of our country now where the same story is happening, and at the extreme levels, a lack of integration leads us into a very dark place as a country.”