Refugee charity boss who accused Robert Jenrick of ‘xenophobia’ in BBC row says top Tory should work with him to ‘de-escalate fear and anger’ over small boats crisis
The refugee charity boss who accused Robert Jenrick of ‘xenophobia’ over his stance on illegal migration has now suggested he ‘work together’ with the top Tory.
Dr Krish Kandiah, founder of the Sanctuary Foundation, said he had offered an ‘olive branch’ to the shadow justice secretary following a row earlier this week.
The BBC was forced into an embarrassing climbdown on Wednesday when Dr Kandiah used a flagship radio news programme to attack Mr Jenrick.
He used the Thought For The Day segment of BBC Radio 4’s Today show to criticise a recent Mail on Sunday front page, in which Mr Jenrick said he worried for his young daughters and defended protests outside asylum hotels.
Dr Kandiah, who is also a theologian and author, claimed the shadow cabinet minister had echoed ‘fear of the stranger’, adding: ‘The technical name for this is xenophobia.’
BBC bosses later apologised to Mr Jenrick and had Radio 4’s Today taken down from its streaming servces and edited to remove references to xenophobia.
Dr Kandiah doubled down on his comments by posting the original audio from the broadcast on social media and asking people to ‘let me know what I am wrong about factually?’.
But he subsequently said he was offering an ‘olive branch’ to Mr Jenrick and suggested they ‘work together to de-escalate the fear and anger many are feeling in our country’.
The refugee charity boss who accused Robert Jenrick of ‘xenophobia’ over his stance on illegal migration has now suggested he ‘work together’ with the top Tory
Dr Krish Kandiah, founder of the Sanctuary Foundation, said he had offered an ‘olive branch’ to the shadow justice secretary following a row earlier this week
The BBC was forced into an embarrassing climbdown on Wednesday when Dr Kandiah used a flagship radio news programme to attack Mr Jenrick
Dr Kandiah posted on X/Twitter: ‘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 this week accused the BBC of thinking it was ‘acceptable to smear millions of worried citizens as ‘xenophobic’ for their completely understandable fears about undocumented men entering illegally’.
The row with Dr Kandiah followed Mr Jenrick’s article in the Mail on Sunday, in which he 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.’
He added: ‘I can only sympathise with the mothers and fathers peacefully protesting outside asylum hotels who have been pushed to breaking point.’
In a letter to Mr Jenrick this week, the BBC’s head of editorial standards Roger Mahony said Dr Kandiah’s comments ‘went beyond’ what is expected of its Thought For The Day segment.
Mr Mahony said: ‘I have concluded that, while its reflection on fear in society from a faith perspective is broadly in line with expectations of Thought For The Day, some of the language it used went beyond that.
‘I have asked for the two references to xenophobia to be edited from the programme on BBC Sounds. Please accept my apology for their original inclusion.’
Mr Jenrick’s team has been contacted for comment.
