Robert Jenrick

ROBERT Jenrick should stop lecturing the public on integration, Sir Keir Starmer has blasted.

The PM hit out at the Shadow Justice Secretary after he claimed he “didn’t see another white face” during a visit to Birmingham.

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Sir Keir slammed the comment on Thursday night, saying “it’s quite hard to take anything that Robert Jenrick says seriously.”

He accused the senior Tory of “running a leadership campaign” instead of making serious political arguments.

Speaking on a flight to Mumbai, where he will meet Indian President Narendra Modi, Sir Keir said: “We’re working hard on questions of integration, but we need no lessons or lectures from Robert Jenrick on any of this.

“He’s clearly just engaging in a leadership campaign.”

The row erupted after senior Conservatives rallied behind Mr Jenrick’s claim that Britain must confront “ghettoised communities” and a “dangerous” lack of social cohesion.

Labour figures branded the comments “racist”, but Tory leader Kemi Badenoch defended her colleague, saying there was “nothing wrong with making observations.”

Shadow Cabinet Minister Claire Coutinho also backed him, saying: “If you walk through an area and don’t see a single white face, it is a sign that integration has failed.”

The controversy broke out during the Tory party conference in Manchester after The Guardian obtained a secret recording of Mr Jenrick describing a 90-minute visit to Handsworth earlier this year.

He told members at an Aldridge-Brownhills dinner: “I went to Handsworth in Birmingham the other day to do a video on Twitter 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.”

Just nine per cent of Handsworth’s population is white, with most residents of Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi heritage, official data shows.

Asked if he regretted his comments, Mr Jenrick told the BBC: “No, not at all and I won’t shy away from these issues.”

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He said he mentioned skin colour “because it’s incredibly important that we have a fully integrated society regardless of the colour of their skin or the faith that they abide by.”

He also linked the terror attack in north Manchester last week to a lack of integration.

Ms Badenoch again backed her shadow minister, saying she would take The Guardian report “with a pinch of salt.”

The Tory leader said: “What he and I both agree with is that there are not enough people integrating.

“There are many people who are creating separate communities.”

Labour last night pounced on the remarks, saying Mr Jenrick had “crossed a red line.”

CRIMINALS will be forced to pay back every penny they steal under proposals being drawn up by Tory Robert Jenrick.

The move could let courts claw back many billions of pounds of ill-gotten gains which would be returned to victims or help tackle crime.

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Under the proposal, fines on burglars and thieves will be hiked so they have to pay for the full amount of damage they inflict.

Rules which stop courts pursuing criminals for unpaid fines after six years would be torn up so a thief can always be made to pay up.

The shadow justice secretary is proposing the crackdown in an amendment to the Victims and Courts Bill, which is being debated in parliament next week.

Mr Jenrick said: “There’s never been a better time to be a criminal. That has to change: crime should never pay.

“Thieves and burglars must be fined the full cost of the damage they cause.

“If they can’t pay immediately, they should be made to pay it back over their whole lifetime.

“Our criminal justice system must put victims first and yobs last.”

Criminals owe a record £4.4billion in unpaid fines and court fees.

It is made up of over £1bn in fines and £3.4bn in legal costs and confiscation orders slapped on convicts.

This is enough cash to build 20,000 prison places.

Courts can impose fines on criminals as part of their sentence. The size of the fine depends on the severity of the crime and the offender’s ability to pay it.

But thieves and burglars routinely fail to pay up. And some dodge these fines by serving an extra day in prison – racking up a bigger bill for the taxpayer.

Labour have a giant majority in Parliament, so they would have to back the amendment for it to become law.