A Tory MP has warned “white people won’t go” to parts of Luton because the town is “a very dangerous place” where some communities “live in ghettoes”.
Shadow Home Office Minister Blake Stephenson, who was only appointed to his frontbench role two weeks ago, told a Centre for Policy Studies fringe event that he knows Luton well because he lives in the neighbouring constituency.
The most recent Census found that fewer than a third of residents in the Bedfordshire town identify as white British, with 37 per cent identifying as Asian.
Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, Mr Stephenson said: “I know Luton reasonably well because I live 10, 15 minutes away and represent Mid Bedfordshire, I live in a village just over the border.
“I think the town is a shadow of its former self. There are parts of that town – and unfortunately the police will tell you this – it can be a very dangerous place.
“There are parts where white people won’t go. They are like no-go zones. It is not alone, there are other towns across the country in a similar situation. It is dreadful where we have got to.”
The Shadow Home Office Minister, who warned “ghettoes” exist in the town, added: “It does get icky for some people, but I think there is a consensus, certainly on the right, that mass migration has been an absolute disaster.
“So it’s up to us to put a plan together and deliver. We’ve got the borders plan.
“You know, some of that may feel a bit icky for some people, but we’ve got to face into it, lean into it.”
Mr Stephenson, who was appearing at a fringe meeting entitled “From Boriswave to Brain Drain: How Can We Fix Migration?”, also raised concerns about Whitehall schemes which are not open to young white men.
He said: “I’m not surprised that young white men feel like the system is rigged against them, particularly with the government coming out with schemes that won’t allow them to apply for internships.
“That is state-sponsored racism and it needs to stop.”
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However, Mr Stephenson’s remarks about Luton having “no-go areas” echo Donald Trump’s about London last month.
Around 34 per cent of Britons believe there are areas in London where Sharia law dominates and non-Muslims cannot enter.
Only a slightly higher proportion – 36 per cent – disagreed with the statement.
Speaking to GB News in early September, Mr Trump said: “You have areas in Paris and London where the police don’t want to even go in them, there’s no law and order.
“They’re afraid to go in them. Either they’re afraid or they just don’t, you know, they don’t want to lose their life.”
However, Mr Stephenson is not the first Tory MP to make such a comment.
Ex-London Minister Paul Scully described parts of Tower Hamlets in London and Sparkhill in Birmingham as “no-go areas”.
Meanwhile, now-Reform UK MP Robert Jenrick railed against segregation and the failure of integration in Birmingham ahead of the 2024 Conservative Party Conference.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage even warned about parts of Oldham being segregated in 2019, previously describing “no-go areas” in cities in France.
However, Luton North MP Sarah Owen told The Guardian: “It is deeply irresponsible for any politician, let alone a senior Conservative, to peddle the same right-wing nonsense about Luton that we see from the likes of Yaxley-Lennon and Reform.
“It is simply untrue and the Shadow Home Office minister should get off social media and get to know the fantastic Lutonians I’m proud to represent and call my neighbours.
“I’d also call on the new Lib Dem/Tory/Green coalition-run council in Luton to disown these comments from their colleague.”
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