Luton residents challenge MP’s claim of ‘no-go zones’ for white people

Luton residents and local representatives challenged a Conservative MP’s claim that parts of the town were ‘no-go zones’ for white people in Guardian interviews published on 8 October. Accounts from Bury Park describe everyday shopping, football trade and personal experiences of feeling safe, offering a different picture of the neighbourhood from the MP’s portrayal.

According to the Guardian, Blake Stephenson, the Mid Bedfordshire MP and a shadow Conservative Home Office minister, made the comments at the Conservative party conference on the Monday before publication. He described Luton as ‘a very dangerous place’ and said: ‘There are parts where white people won’t go.’

The Guardian’s street visit took place the following day, rather than on publication day. Its reporter described activity along Dunstable Road, with restaurants, jewellery stores and food shops, and shoppers of different races moving through nearby supermarket car parks.

What people in Bury Park described

Tanner Ahmed, known locally as Mr T, runs a fish-and-chip shop serving supporters visiting Luton Town’s nearby football ground. He told the Guardian that the business had been established to serve the thousands of fans passing through, particularly when the club was in the Premier League.

Joshua Bozier, 36, whom the Guardian identified as homeless, said he felt safer in Bury Park than in the town centre because he knew people in the neighbourhood. He disputed the wider negative portrayal of Luton. His comparison reflects his own experience, rather than a measurement of relative crime levels.

The interviews and street observations in the Guardian’s report challenge Stephenson’s description, but cannot establish that everyone feels safe or provide a representative survey of residents. They also do not supply a comparative analysis of neighbourhood crime.

Local representatives dispute the portrayal

Sarah Owen, Labour MP for Luton North, criticised Stephenson’s remarks and compared them with rhetoric used by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, the Guardian reported. Bedfordshire’s Labour police and crime commissioner, John Tizard, also challenged the comments in a letter to Stephenson.

According to the newspaper, Tizard said the statements lacked supporting evidence and resembled rhetoric used to divide communities. That was his assessment of the remarks; it was not a published statistical analysis of safety in Bury Park.

Luton’s independent mayor, Javed Hussain, told the Guardian that he found the claims baffling and disheartening. Walking through Bury Park, he pointed to Christian, Sikh and Muslim places of worship and local regeneration. He said people from outside the area visited for shopping and food.

Hussain also expressed a wish for greater support for children living on predominantly white council estates. His comments set out a priority, rather than announcing a funded programme or a delivery timetable.

What the Luton census figures establish

The Office for National Statistics provides independent context about the community at the centre of the dispute. Its census account puts Luton’s population at approximately 225,300 in 2021, up 10.9% from about 203,200 in 2011. Those are historical counts, not a population estimate for 2026.

In 2021, 45.2% of Luton residents identified within the White ethnic category, compared with 54.7% in 2011. The Asian category accounted for 37.0%, up from 30.0%, while the Black category accounted for 10.1%. These figures cover the borough as a whole, rather than Bury Park specifically.

Separately, 32.9% identified as Muslim, 37.9% as Christian and 17.6% reported no religion. Ethnicity and religious identification are different measures. ONS cautions that the religion question was voluntary and response rates can affect comparisons. Neither measure establishes neighbourhood safety.

Why Luton recurs in political arguments

The Guardian identifies Luton as Robinson’s home town and the place where the English Defence League was launched. William Allchorn, an associate professor at Richmond American University and specialist on the far right, told the newspaper that confrontations involving the EDL and Islamist activists had reinforced each other.

Allchorn argued that local events and personalities helped turn Luton into a national and international political story. That interpretation explains the wider attention surrounding the town; it does not resolve the present safety claims. The Guardian account records no subsequent response from Stephenson to the interviews.