A refugee charity boss who suggested the shadow justice secretary is xenophobic has said he wants the pair to work together to de-escalate fear and anger over migration “rather than ramping up anti-immigrant sentiment”.
Krish Kandiah, a director of Sanctuary Foundation which has previously helped refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan, said he was offering an “olive branch” to Robert Jenrick.
During a BBC broadcast earlier this week, Mr Kandiah claimed Mr Jenrick had echoed “fear of the stranger”, adding: “The technical name for this is xenophobia.”
The BBC apologised to Mr Jenrick and has since removed references to xenophobia from the programme.
The Conservative politician had accused the broadcaster of thinking it was “acceptable to smear millions of worried citizens as ‘xenophobic’ for their completely understandable fears about undocumented men entering illegally”.
Mr Kandiah’s comments, made in the Thought for the Day section of the BBC Radio Four Today programme, followed a piece Mr Jenrick had published in the Mail on Sunday.
The Tory MP wrote: “I certainly don’t want my children to share a neighbourhood with men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally, and about whom we know next to nothing.”
Mr Kandiah previously appeared to double down on his comments, posting the original audio from his broadcast online and urging people to “take a listen and let me know what I am wrong about factually?”
On Thursday, he took to social media with a direct plea to Mr Jenrick.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he posted: “Olive branch offered … Mr Jenrick, I want your daughters and mine to be able to walk down the road safely and without fear. I worked with you when you were housing minister and the UK welcomed over 200,000 people from Hong Kong.
“I was grateful for your support and compassion during that time. I would love to find a way we could work together to de-escalate the fear and anger many are feeling in our country.
“I believe we need to focus on the real challenges that are making people worried – housing, jobs and the cost of living – rather than ramping up anti-immigrant sentiment.”
Mr Jenrick’s team has been contacted for comment.
