THE leader of Dudley Council has denied Dudley has integration issues after going on the radio supporting controversial comments made about a part of Birmingham.
Dudley Council’s leader, Cllr Patrick Harley, backed shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick during a BBC Radio WM appearance after Jenrick likened Handsworth to a “slum” during a 90-minute visit at the start of the Birmingham Bin Strikes earlier this year, saying he “did not see another white face”.
The comments landed Mr Jenrick in hot water but Cllr Harley said: “Robert Jenrick was correct with his comments recently and I fully support his stance.
“Too often over recent years politicians have been afraid to speak up and tell it the way it is.
“Robert's comments have got the left wing luvvies in a right spin, but he is right to speak out and demand a full and frank debate on immigration and integration.”
Mr Jenrick’s comments, which painted Handsworth as “one of the worst integrated places [he had] ever been to" were met with criticism from cross party Birmingham politicians.
Current Labour West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, told BBC Radio WM he found the comments “racist”, while former Conservative West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, said Jenrick was “wrong” about Handsworth.
Speaking to The News after the radio interview, Cllr Harley said he feels there is an “integration problem” in some places in the country at the moment, but the Dudley Borough is not an example of one.
Cllr Harley said: “Although some areas of our country do raise these very real concerns it’s hearting that Dudley does not have those issues.
“Dudley also doesn’t have a large influx of asylum seekers or refugees. In fact, the numbers for both are the lowest across the West Midlands and I believe due to those low numbers we don’t have issues with integration.
“But clearly in areas where numbers are high, we run the risk of having a successful multi-racial country starting to fragment. If immigration continues to go unchecked, then integration becomes more difficult as the numbers inflate out of control.”
According to data from the Home Office, as of June 2025, 669 people were in receipt of asylum support. In March 2025, this number was 676.
This is lower than Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Walsall.
The only place that falls under the West Midlands Combined Authority that has a lower number of asylum seekers currently receiving support is Solihull, which has 303.
The Home Office’s definition of the places that fall under the West Midlands is much larger, including the likes of Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Herefordshire.
Out of the 30 places that the Home Office says falls under the West Midlands, Dudley ranks number eight for the number of asylum seekers receiving support.
As Jenrick did, Cllr Harley also drew comparison to integration within communities and the terrorist attack that happened outside of a synagogue in Manchester earlier this month.
He said: “The issues Jenrick raised are not about a person’s skin colour or faith but rather about the fact we need people and communities to be living alongside each other and not as he stated living parallel lives.
“We need a step change on how immigration is handled in this country. Too often the UK has been too eager to assist and welcome people into our neighbourhoods.
“Just look at what happened in Manchester a few weeks ago where we had 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 two people.”
Cllr Harley’s initially spoke out after appearing on BBC WM on October 8, the day after Jenrick’s comments came to light.
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