Anger grows after MP describes part of Birmingham as having 'no-go areas'

The comments were made by Paul Scully, MP for Sutton and Cheam, who was asked about recent remarks made by fellow Conservative MP Lee Anderson - who sparked a furious backlash and lost the Tory whip after controversially suggesting 'Islamists had got control' of London Mayor Sadiq Khan and the capital city.

On BBC Radio London, Mr Scully described Mr Anderson’s comments as “inflammatory” and “clumsy” before claiming that some people are concerned by “their neighbourhoods changing".

He continued: “If you look at parts of Tower Hamlets there are no-go areas, parts of Birmingham, Sparkhill, there are no-go areas, mainly because of doctrine, mainly because of people using, abusing in many ways, their religion – it’s not the doctrine of Islam, to espouse what some of these people are saying – that is the concern that needs to be addressed.”

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss Birmingham City Council’s ‘unprecedented’ budget amid an alarming financial crisis, Labour councillor Nicky Brennan described Mr Scully's comments as “offensive”.

“It’s important to talk about how we often very warmly speak about how diversity in Birmingham is our strength,” she said.

“I’m privileged to represent one of the most diverse wards in our city and probably in our country, which hit the headlines today for all the wrong reasons, having horrible comments made about it which were totally disrespectful, offensive and dangerous.”

“If we are talking seriously about how we’re going to transform how this council operates, we need to make sure our equalities agenda is delivered properly and in the best interests for this city and its citizens.”

Shabana Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood, also criticised the remarks made by Mr Scully.

She posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday: “The idea there are ‘no go’ areas in Birmingham is laughable – but the implications for my constituents could not be more serious.

“Tories ratcheting up the divisive rhetoric has a real-world impact, but Rishi Sunak is too weak to stand up to his own MPs.”

Amid the huge backlash, Mr Scully wrote on X on Tuesday: “Following the frenzy of yesterday I regret using language that could be misconstrued but at a time when we need to encourage moderate voices speaking up for our diverse communities, frankly my biggest regret is speaking out in the first place.”

He added in a Telegraph piece: “My point was not to write off entire neighbourhoods, but to bring to the fore how a tiny minority can distort reality and thus the language used by Lee Anderson and others that I was there to condemn.”

By Local Democracy Service reporter Alexander Brock