Sir Keir Starmer has claimed he “does not need lectures from Robert Jenrick” amid a row over the Shadow Justice Secretary’s remarks on “white faces” in Birmingham.

Speaking to GB News ahead of his arrival in India on Wednesday morning, the Prime Minister was probed on Mr Jenrick’s comment that he “didn’t see another white face” during a visit to Handsworth in the Second City.

On average, under 15 per cent of residents in the area were white at the time of the 2021 census, while under 10 per cent were “White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British”.

In particular, Mr Jenrick was seen visiting The Broadway in Handsworth, which ranges from 5.5 to 2.8 per cent white.

But now, the Prime Minister has claimed it is “quite hard to take anything that Robert Jenrick says seriously”.

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

The PM added that “we’re working hard on questions of integration” – but then turned his guns on the Tory frontbencher.

“We need no lessons or lectures from Robert Jenrick on any of this,” he added.

Mr Jenrick’s comments, made in March at a Conservative Association dinner but revealed days ago by The Guardian, have led to allegations of racism.

He told attendees that in a 90-minute visit he “didn’t see another white face”.

WATCH: Robert Jenrick’s video from Handsworth, Birmingham

He stands by his words, and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has backed him.

Mr Jenrick went on to describe Handsworth as “one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to”, adding: “That’s not the kind of country I want to live in.”

He said the issue was not about “the colour of your skin or your faith”, but that he wanted “people to be living alongside each other, not parallel lives”.

The Prime Minister has come out to back a rival Tory: Andy Street, the former West Midlands Mayor.

“I think that what Andy Street said was right,” Sir Keir said. “Andy Street obviously was Mayor for a long time, and knows the area very very well.”

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Mr Street had labelled Mr Jenrick “wrong” about Handsworth, and said he was “surprised” by his comments.

“I would say [Handsworth] is one of the most integrated places you’ll find,” he said.

“If you walk along the street there, you see people from all sorts of faiths. Whether that be Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians… and a lot of people of African and Caribbean origin, and of course the white community as well.”

The Bishop of Birmingham then wrote a letter to the top Tory co-signed by so-called “community leaders”, saying: “Comments like those you have made have the potential to generate anxiety and stir up division.

“They can feed into a harmful narrative that provides fuel for a fire of toxic nationalism.

“It is deeply unhelpful for politicians to make such comments and I encourage you to think about how your rhetoric might contribute towards unity rather than stoking division.”

Meanwhile, the leader of Labour-run Birmingham City Council called Mr Jenrick’s words “racist” and “outrageous”.

“I do think that if you are singling people out on the basis of their skin that is a racist statement,” said John Cotton, who served for four years as the council’s cabinet member for social justice.

The Shadow Justice Secretary has committed to his remarks.

He told the Daily T podcast: “I didn’t see a mix of people on the streets. It was an observation.”

He said people should not be stopped from talking about integration out of a “misplaced fear of being called racist”.

Mr Jenrick also 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.

“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.”