By Robson McCallister

Copyright birminghammail

Robert Jenrick clearly didn’t look very hard when he said he didn’t see a single white face in Handsworth. Because BirminghamLive didn’t have to break a sweat to find Soho Road trader David Volante – a white British man who said he had encountered “nothing but respect” in the two years he had been based there. David, who manages H&T Pawnbrokers and is a director at Soho Road Business Improvement District, invited Jenrick to return to the area – this time for more than 90 minutes – and see it properly. READ MORE: Dad of terminally ill son slams ‘heartless’ act outside Birmingham hospital as he says ‘they knew’ He told BirminghamLive: “I don’t think it’s accurate at all. I’m here nearly 60 hours a week and in a position to give an opinion as opposed to someone who was here for a snippet of time. “As a white British man, I’ve had nothing but respect in the two years I’ve worked on this road. I enjoy spending time in this multicultural area and we do have white British people living here, his comments were not factual at all. “The word slum is derogatory to this area. If it was that much of a slum, you’d expect to see more empty units and closures. There’s clearly a demand to do business in Handsworth. “I’d encourage Mr Jenrick to come here and spend more time in the community. If he visits again, I’d be more than happy to take him into the local pub for a drink of his choice and show him the same respect you’d get anywhere in our region.” Jenrick was widely condemned after branding Handsworth a virtual “slum” where he did not see another white face after filming a video for GB News during the early days of the all-out bin strike in March. The Prime Minister said it was hard to take anything Jenrick said seriously because he was conducting a pre-emptive Tory leadership campaign . Balu Travel director and chairman of Soho Road BID, Bob Balu, was born in Handsworth and defended his home area against the MP’s remarks. He said: “We’ve got Indians, Pakistanis, Vietnamese, Caribbean, white people…. we’re all passionate about recognising everyone. I don’t know what part of Handsworth Mr Jenrick visited but I doubt it was the Soho Road. “We’ve got 22 different cultural diversities on this road for food, it’s not just curries and Bangladeshi food. We’re giving it to everyone – and we all eat. “I love this area to bits, it’s got life and I’m always here to give back to it. A charity shop’s lease expired recently and nearly 60 people put forward their interest. “We have an entire waiting list of people, a new jewellery shop went for double its asking price on rent due to demand. That doesn’t happen in slums, that happens in affluent, desirable areas and that’s what Soho Road BID has achieved.” Soho Road BID business liaison officer Rani Rajwa added: “Robert Jenrick doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Handsworth is a diverse community with diverse businesses and customers. “We have queues of people wanting to rent here. We don’t see any problems here, all we see is a successful, diverse and happy high street.”