‘Not words that I would have used’: Stride distances himself from Jenrick’s ‘no white faces’ comments – as it happened | Politics

Key events

Early evening summary

I do believe it’s a racist comment. It’s the fact that he wasn’t talking about anything else [other than skin colour].

And I think him trying to now suggest it wasn’t about race, it was about integration, again I find troubling. Because when he talks about integration, what are the indicators that he’s using to judge that Handsworth isn’t integrated?

Colleagues that I’ve spoken to from that area are very clear about the diversity that exists there. You have Pakistani people living there, Indian people living there, Black African, Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi people living there. I mean that is the definition of integration.

Kemi Badenoch has said lack of proper community integration could take Britain to “a very dark place”. She has defended Jenrick, and in an interview with the BBC she claimed:

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.

We’re here in Manchester today, a week on from a terrible terrorist attack where a man who lived in our country for 30 years clearly wasn’t well integrated, clearly didn’t share British values because he went on to murder British Jews.

Kemi Badenoch has repeatedly avoiding saying whether or not she admires Nigel Farage. In a Sky News interview, Beth Rigby asked her if she admired the Reform UK leader. Sky reports:

[Badenoch] responded first, “on what basis”, then “I don’t understand your question” and thirdly, “why aren’t you asking about Keir Starmer or Ed Davey?” Beth then explained that she also asked the prime minister about Farage during the Labour conference, and that he said the Reform leader is “formidable”. Badenoch responded: “I think it’s very interesting that a lot of the media in Westminster is very interested in asking about Nigel Farage. I’m not interested in Nigel Farage, I’m interested in the Conservative party.”

For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.

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Updated at 13.13 EDT

Earlier I said Sadiq Khan would definitely be standing down as London mayor in 2028. (See 5.09am.) A reader points out that Kahn gave an interview before the Labour conference saying that he would stand for a fourth term. I’m sorry for the error. But I’m told that when Khan gave that answer, he did not want to say he would be standing down in case that triggered headlines about his intending to challenge Keir Starmer etc (Andy Burnham was making headlines at the time), and there is still an expectation that he will call it a day after three terms.

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Updated at 13.20 EDT

Michael Heseltine suggests axing Climate Change Act would be ‘act of unforgiveable irresponsibility’ by Tories

Michael Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister, was often the star performer at Conservative party conferences in the 1980s and 1990s. Now he is estranged from the Tory leadership (he hated Brexit), and he’s 92, but he was at conference today giving a speech at European Movement fringe.

Heseltine said he wanted to see the election of another Tory government. But he criticised two of the biggest policy announcements at the conference.

On leaving the European convention on human rights, he said:

In one of his most famous speeches Winston Churchill at Zurich in 1946 called for a Council of Europe and a Charter of Human Rights. This country was the first to ratify the Charter before it came into force in 1953. It was the first legally binding international human rights treaty.

The court itself came into existence in 1959 with the British Lord McNair as its first President. The UK has had a British judge ever since as one of the 46 judges representing the 46 signatories. In the event that a case is brought concerning the UK that British judge will be involved in the proceedings.

If any changes are required, the worst thing is to walk out and turn our back on one of the most civilised of European creations. The right way is to follow David Cameron’s example and seek change by agreement as he did in 2012 with the Brighton Declaration. It is more than possible that the widespread concerns about asylum seekers across Europe would make review welcome to many signatories.

And on repealing the Climate Change Act, he said:

The threat from global warming must not be ignored in the hope that it may not happen or because there is a backlash against the cost. The Climate Change Act 2008 was prepared by the conservative opposition led by David Cameron. So comprehensive was the parliamentary support that Gordon Brown agreed to accept it as a government bill which was passed with only five dissenting votes. The act set up the Climate Change Committee. This committee has been supported by our party and indeed on its recommendation we passed into law the Net Zero target by 2050. We should be proud of our role in the battle to halt climate change. It was Margaret Thatcher who gave one of the starkest and earliest warnings of the dangers. Today the evidence in storms, coastal erosion, flooding, fire and the spread of desert is all too clear. It would be an act of unforgivable irresponsibility to undo all that Conservatives have done to play a leading role in this world threatening crisis.

Heseltine also condemned the demonisation of asylum seekers.

The overwhelming majority of asylum seekers want to share in our standards, and to escape from persecution or civil war. To describe them as thieves or rapists is not just dishonest but encourages the worst sort of prejudice in our communities. If you want further proof just visit any part of our health services, social services, public or private sector offices or academia.

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James Cleverly admits he’s not ruling out bid to be Tory mayor of London in 2028

James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, has confirmed that he is thinking about standing as the Tory candidate for London mayor in 2028.

In an interview with Adam Fleming for the BBC’s Newscast podcast, Cleverly said he was primarily committed to his constituency in Essex (Braintree), but admitted that he was attracted by the prospect of the London job.

Asked if he fancied being London mayor, Cleverly replied:

 The mayor of big cities like London is an incredibly important job.

We’ve already discussed the huge difference that Andy Street made to Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Look, I love being the mayor for Braintree [ie, MP for Braintree]. I’ve had so many people say, you, you cut your teeth in London politics. It’s a really, really important job.

My heart is in Essex, but I also know watching London go wrong angers me enormously.

When Fleming said that answer made it sound as if he was interested in the job, Cleverly replied:

Look I’d be stupid not to think about it, but I say my heart, my heart’s in Essex.

Cleverly first held elected office as a member of the London assembly.

There has been speculation about Cleverly trying to get the Tory nomination for the election, which will be in 2028, for some time and yesterday he revived it with a conference speech that included a long passage attacking Sadiq Khan’s record on housing in the capital.

With Khan widely expected to stand down in 2028, and Labour very unpopular nationally, there is a speculation that a mainstream/liberal Conservative like Cleverly could do well in the election. Boris Johnson was elected mayor of London in 2008 on a similar platform.

The full interview will be available around 7pm tonight.

UPDATE: A reader points out that Kahn gave an interview before the Labour conference saying that he would stand for a fourth term. Sorry; I was wrong to say earlier that Khan would definitely be standing down in 2028. But I’m told that when Khan gave that answer, he did not want to say he would be standing down in case that triggered headlines about his intending to challenge Keir Starmer etc (Andy Burnham was making headlines at the time), and there is still an expectation that he will call it a day after three terms. I’ve amended the wording in the post above.

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Updated at 13.19 EDT

Ed Davey says Jenrick speech shows Tories want ‘puppet judges’ and no longer back rule of law

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has said that Robert Jenrick’s speech shows that the Conservatives want “puppet judges” and are no longer a party supporting the rule of law. He posted this on social media.

We have an independent judiciary in this country. Robert Jenrick wants puppet judges.

The Conservative Party once believed in the rule of law and our shared British values – no longer.

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Handsworth’s MP Ayoub Khan calls on Jenrick to apologise for ‘dangerous’ remarks

Sundus Abdi

Sundus Abdi is a Guardian reporter.

Ayoub Khan, the independent MP who represents Handsworth, has accused Robert Jenrick of making “dangerous” and “divisive” comments about integration.

Speaking from Soho Road in Handsworth, Khan told BirminghamLive:

To suggest integration is about the colour of your skin is not only disingenuous – it’s dangerous, it’s divisive.

He said Jenrick “got nothing right” about the area, adding that the shadow justice secretary had only spent “about nine minutes” in Handsworth earlier this year, during a visit focused on rubbish and fly tipping.

Khan, whose Birmingham Perry Barr constituency covers Handsworth, added: “We know we’ve had bin strikes, we know workers are not getting their fair share and having to take losses of £8,000 on average.”

Khan also criticised Tory leader Kemi Badenoch for supporting Jenrick’s comments, saying she “should have taken a very different view”. He added:

When you bring race into a discussion, you are fuelling hatred and division.We have seen incidents where hate crime has increased and people like Robert Jenrick, and his comments, are not welcome.

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Updated at 11.41 EDT

‘Not words that I would have used’ – Mel Stride refuses to back Jenrick’s no white faces comment about Handsworth

Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, has said that he would not have used the words that Robert Jenrick did about not seeing “another white face” when he talked about visiting Handsworth in Birmingham.

Stride is the first senior Tory at the conference to distance himself from Jenrick over the comments, which Kemi Badenoch has been defending all today.

At a Politico fringe meeting, asked by Anne McElvoy how he felt about Jenrick’s comments, Stride replied:

Those are not words that I would have used.

Having said that, everybody chooses their own words. It’s now being asked, does the fact that he said that make him a racist? No, I don’t believe it does at all.

But I think everybody chooses their own words. And I’ll be frank and say they are not words that I would have chosen.

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Updated at 11.26 EDT

Tories call for zero tolerance approach to violence in schools, with pupils permanently excluded if they bring in knife

Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, proposed a zero tolerance approach to violence in schools in her speech to the conference this morning. This would involve a presumption that pupils who bring a knife to school should be permanently excluded.

She explained:

We can’t shy away from setting clear boundaries, for excluding pupils when they have been extremely violent or are carrying a knife.

This is not about giving up on those children. It is actually the opposite.

Children must learn that actions have consequences. That is just how the world works.

So, under the Conservatives, our policy is simple: one knife and you are out.

If you assault a teacher then you are out.

If you sexually assault someone then you are out.

If you’ve been expelled from not just one but two mainstream schools, then it’s clear, mainstream classrooms aren’t for you.

If children bring knives into the classroom, then they shouldn’t be there.

If they are violent, then they shouldn’t be there.

And under the Conservatives, they won’t be there.

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During his Q&A at a Telegraph fringe, the Telegraph writer Tim Stanley asked Robert Jenrick about his Handsworth comments and suggested that if he had gone somewhere “mono-culturally white”, he would not be commenting on the absence of black or brown faces.

As the Telegraph reports, Jenrick replied:

The left do, ‘decolonise the countryside’, ‘decolonise the National Trust’… What I said is it not about the colour of your skin or your faith. My point is that we don’t want to have communities where they do not reflect the breadth of the people who live in our country. I think it’s self-evidently true.

Not only I think is that bad because we want to live in a country where there is a strong sense of togetherness, but at the extreme it leads us down a very dangerous path.

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A former Tory MP who joined the Ukrainian military’s foreign legion has called on the government to be “a bit more positive” about British people volunteering to fight, PA Media reports. PA says:

Jack Lopresti, who was the MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke from 2010 to 2024, lost his seat in the July election.

Speaking at the conference, Lopresti said: “It also has to be said that we need people. And I think the government should be a bit more positive about volunteers.

“In my view, if you’ve got military experience and you’re a veteran and you want to go and help in Ukraine, you should be encouraged to do so, because we are starting to get really stretched.”

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Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge criticises Farage for being anti-Nato

James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, used his speech to the Tory conference to accuse Nigel Farage of anti-Nato.

He said:

There are those who claim that Nigel Farage’s party are the true conservatives, but let us remind ourselves what happened when Putin launched his all-out invasion.

On that day, what did Farage do? Whose side was he on as our continent was suddenly threatened with war for the first time since 1945? That day, he chose to blame Nato for provoking Putin.

What did we do that day? Instead of blaming our closest allies, we took real action to defend freedom by arming the Ukrainians at lightning speed.

NLAW anti-tank weapons, half a million artillery shells, the first government to provide main battle tanks and Storm Shadow missiles, and by training 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

This is what it means to be a true conservative – standing up to Putin, just like Churchill did to Hitler, Thatcher to Galtieri and in this party, we will always stand up for freedom and be prepared to defend it.

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Labour sources have defended Lord Hermer in the light of Robert Jenrick’s attack on him. One source said:

[Robert] Jenrick thinks personal attacks are a good replacement for a basic understanding of the law. The attorney general is changing things for the better, including helping deliver the Hillsborough Law, while Jenrick nearly collapses murder trials with his tweets. Who would you rather have protecting the rule of law?

It is also being pointed out that Hermer’s legal work before entering government included representing Grenfell Tower families and working on the taskforce for accountability for crimes committed in Ukraine.

I have beefed up the post at 12.09pm, with Jenrick’s comments about Hermer, to include more direct quotes. You may need to refresh the page to get the update to appear.

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Jenrick’s attack on judges ‘serious mistake’, says former supreme court justice Lord Sumption

Lord Sumption, a former supreme court judge, told the World at One that Robert Jenrick’s proposal to change the judicial appointments process so that the lord chancellor (the justice secretary) appoints judges would be a “serious mistake”.

Sumption said that, before 2005, the lord chancellor did appoint judges. But opinion was “much less polarised” then, he said. He said the only Marxist to sit on the high court bench was appointed by Lord Hailsham, a Conservative. He went on:

If judges were appointed in today’s polarised world by the lord chancellor, I do not think the public would have the same confidence in their independence. They’re actually appointed by the judicial appointments commission, which is an independent, non-political body, and it looks for the same qualities in the judges it appoints.

The only possible reason for going back to the old system would be to appoint judges who were less independent or more political than the ones appointed by the judicial appointments commission.

Sumption said the Jenrick policy would bring the UK closer to the US model, where the president appoints judges to the supreme court. He went on:

In the United States, the supreme court has become subservient to the president and enabled him to behave like an autocrat. I think that that is a very serious business in the United States, and we should be very careful to take take warning from it.

Sumption also said he did not think it was objectionable for part-time judges to give free legal services to bodies like migration charities. Making public statements that were politically controversial was a form of misconduct, he said. But he said there were already procedures in place to deal with that. The system “works perfectly well”, he said.

He went on:

Judges have got to be independent of the government and independent of political sentiment. I entirely agree with that. But they can’t be independent if they’re liable to denounced by politicians. I think that that is a serious mistake. It’s a misjudgment on his part.

It is particularly awkward for the Tories to have Lord Sumption criticising Jenrick on this because Sumption is one of the most prominent British judges advocating withdrawal from the European convention on human rights. His comments featured prominently in the Lord Wolfson report on this issue.

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Q: [From the Guardian] In your comments about Handsworth, weren’t you imposing a white normative standard for what public life would look like? And what is the basis for saying the number of white people you see in an area is a good measure is a good measure of community integration?

Jenrick asks if the reporter has looked at the ONS population figures for that community.

(He ignores the fact that they were actually published in the Guardian’s story.)

He goes on:

I was very clear in the remarks that I gave at that meeting, this is not about the colour of your skin or the faith that you abide by. It’s that, wherever possible, I want communities to be well integrated, and for people of all faiths and skin colour to be living side by side in harmonious, well integrated communities. That does not happen in all parts of our country.

I do not want my children to grow up in a country where people of one skin colour live in one part of town, people of another skin colour live in another world, the Muslims, the Jews, the Christians have got their bits of town. Come on. We’re better than that. This is Britain.

As the Guardian reported, Handsworth is mixed. Our story says:

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.

Andy Street, the former Tory mayor of the West Midlands, has also made this point forcefully. (See 8.13am.)

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Jenrick says he did not mention Reform UK in his speech ‘because I don’t obsess about them’

A journalist asks Jenrick why he did not mention Reform UK in his speech.

Jenrick replies:

Because I don’t obsess about them.

This was popular with the audience at the fringe meeting (though clearly disingenous – see 1.01am.)

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Jenrick criticises the decision to prosecute a man who burned a a Qur’an outside the Turkish consulate in London. He says he does not approve of burning holy texts, but he thinks this person should not have been prosecuted. That is a free speech issue, he says.

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