PICTURED: White people in the "no-go zone" of Bury Park

In a debate at Tory Party conference on migration, Blake Stephenson MP - successor to Nadine Dorries in Mid Bedfordshire - made comments characterising Luton as a "very dangerous place," claiming that there are “no-go zones” where “white people won’t go”, with some parts of the town "ghettoes". 

Does Luton have areas of crime? Yes. 

Do some areas feel unsafe? Absolutely.

Are there areas that are exclusively dangerous for, and off limits to, white people? No. 

Blake has taken a very real issue of community safety and made this about skin colour and race. This is incendiary, racist rhetoric, the kind that we have seen before from far-right agitators. These are not comments befitting a man who is supposed to represent all constituents and should be striving to uphold his duty to promote peaceful coexistence. 

These comments demonise and endanger people on the basis of the colour of their skin.

Is Bury Park a "no-go zone" for white people?

Presumably, Blake was talking about Bury Park, and some of its surrounding areas which have a high concentration of ethnic minority residents. Blake offered no explanation as to why he feels so of Bury Park, where churches and a Romanian shop manage to exist side by side with Asian grocers, gold shops and sweet shops. Is Blake frightened of black and brown people? What is it about seeing people shopping for sarees that intimidates Blake?  Has he ever engaged with residents there, or does he assume that he can't do that because of the colour of their skin?

There are certain family-owned Asian businesses in Bury Park who have served people of all backgrounds for decades. Why should anyone characterise these small business owners - who have helped to sustain a local high street at a time when our high streets nationally have declined - as contributing to "ghettoes"? The Conservative Party would once have championed small business owners like these. 

I've visited Bury Park numerous times with my white friends to grab some great food. At no point did any of us feel threatened or unwelcome. 

What is Luton's crime rate?

In the year ending March 2026, Luton's crime rate "was about the same as the average crime rate across similar areas". This can be fact checked here.

The concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour are extremely valid, which is also why it's incredible to see yet another politician take a shot at the town. Back in 2017, the chief of Bedfordshire Police spent considerable time pleading for more investment, stating that his force was "the most profound example" of underfunding . Bedfordshire Police has long been funded as a rural police force despite it facing issues of urban crime, something that even the former Tory PCC  Festus Akinbusoye rightfully acknowledged.

At the same time, the Tories failed to adequately address knife crime. DNA Leisure was able to operate in Luton, selling thousands of zombie knives across Bedfordshire. It took the Tories three separate attempts at legislation, starting as far back as 2016, to finally stop the sale or possession of zombie-style knives and machetes and even now, legislation is not comprehensive and needs government action. Meanwhile, DNA Leisure sold thousands of knives, including ones that were linked to at least three murders. 

If Blake is concerned about crime and safety, he would do well to raise questions about these policy failures rather than characterise Luton as a "very dangerous place" because of (presumably?) the presence of black and Asian residents.

Why is Luton different now to how it was a few decades ago?

There is one thing we can agree on: Blake is correct that Luton is "a shadow of its former self". Following the loss of industry (first hat making and later Vauxhall), Luton has faced a vacuum of opportunity, in contrast to its years as a thriving market town. 

According to a recent report from the trade union Unite, a year on from the closure of Vauxhall, 30% of its surveyed workers are still struggling to find new jobs right now. 

Since austerity started in 2010, the town saw over £150m in funding cuts to its local Council, despite its deprivation rates being more akin to a London borough. Those cuts saw the closure of support services, libraries, youth centres and more. Luton was already a working class town that was suffering from deindustrialisation - these cuts were brutal. 

Instead of talking about this lack of investment and the impact of losing industry, Blake appears instead to be claiming that Luton has lost its former glory because of the existence of ethnic minority residents. I invite Blake to clarify his comments.

What are Blake's "icky" proposals to "move on"?

Blake went on: “But we can move on from it but it requires deep levels of integration and we need to break apart these, erm … this is where it gets icky, but we need to make sure we don’t have ghettoes where there are no-go zones for anybody. The country is for all of us not just certain communities,” 

What exactly are Blake's "icky" proposals to "break apart" these communities? Should we forcibly move people of certain ethnicities? Implement a ban on Muslims buying properties? 

We're yet to hear any explanation of what these "icky" proposals are to "break apart" these areas.

Why am I writing this?

I'm a Lutonian, born and bred. I grew up in a working class family and spent some years living in and later representing areas that Blake would presumably classify as "ghettoes" and "no-go zones". I'm proud of my working class roots and am grateful for all of the opportunities that I found in Luton, as well as the community of people who supported and uplifted me. They didn't demonise me or reduce me to my skin colour or faith. They saw potential in me. 

I am sick and tired of people like Blake demonising the people of Luton while supporting the policies and regimes that underfunded and undervalued it in the first place. It is truly sad that, in his own words, Blake has lived "10, 15 mins away" and yet isn't quite able to figure out what over £150m in cuts to public services might result in, and instead has resorted to peddling falsehoods about the town.

Enough is enough. The people of Bedfordshire - of all backgrounds, ages, faiths, sexualities - deserve better than scapegoating and racial division.

Supported By

Thank you to the following individuals who have supported this statement (this list will be updated on a rolling basis). Please note that this is not a full list of signatories of the petition. 

Cllr Heather Townsend, Independent, Central Bedfordshire Council (Flitwick and Steppingley)

Cllr Susan Clinch, Green Party, Central Bedfordshire Council (Ampthill)

Cllr Anna French, Independent, Central Bedfordshire Council (Barton-le-Clay and Silsoe)

Cllr Victoria Harvey, Non Aligned Independent, Central Bedfordshire Council, Leighton Linslade West Ward

Dave Mingay, Luton NEU Branch Secretary and National Executive Member 

Cllr Tahmina Saleem, Leader of Luton Labour

Cllr Amjid Ali, Leader of Luton Council/Liberal Democrats

Mick Lancaster, GMB Luton

Cllr Alia Khan, Labour Party, Luton Council

Paul Hammond, Luton resident and local historian 

Cllr Yaqub Hanif, Labour Party, Luton Council

Cllr James Taylor, Labour Party, Luton Council 

Cllr Basit Mahmood, Labour Party, Luton Council