Kemi Badenoch backs Tory frontbencher who stated there are ‘no-go zones for white folks’ in Luton
Kemi Badenoch tonight backed a senior Conservative who claimed there were ‘no-go zones’ for white people in Luton.
Blake Stephenson is under fire after making the controversial remarks in a debate on immigration at the Conservative Party Conference.
Mr Stephenson, whose Mid Bedfordshire seat neighbours Luton, was made a shadow Home Office minister in a reshuffle a fortnight ago.
He said at a fringe meeting in Birmingham that the Bedfordshire town, which has a large Muslim population, was ‘a shadow of its former self’.
Attacking ‘ghettoes’ he told the Centre for Policy Studies event in Birmingham: ‘There are parts of that town unfortunately – and 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.’
Asked about the comments Mrs Badenoch told ITV’s Peston that Mr Stephenson was a ‘sensible’ shadow minister, adding: ‘If (he) is saying there are no go zones, he will have a reason for that and I’m sure that he can explain it. So I’m very happy to stand by him.’
Blake Stephenson, who represents the neighbouring seat of Mid-Bedfordshire, made the controversial remarks in a debate on immigration at the Conservative Party Conference
Labour Luton MP Sarah Owen said: ‘It is deeply irresponsible for any politician, let alone a senior Conservative, to peddle the same far-right nonsense about Luton that we see from the likes of (Stephen) Yaxley Lennon and Reform’
Mr Stephenson also told the event that the Tories had to get over feeling ‘icky’ about tackling mass immigration, saying it had been ‘an absolute disaster’ for the country.
It led to accusations he was parroting the language of the far-Right by a Labour Luton MP.
Sarah Owen said: ‘It is deeply irresponsible for any politician, let alone a senior Conservative, to peddle the same far-Right nonsense about Luton that we see from the likes of [Stephen] Yaxley Lennon [aka Tommy Robinson] and Reform.
‘It is simply not true. The shadow Home Office minister will have many constituents who work in Luton and will not recognise his warped description. He should get off social media and meet our many fantastic Lutonians.’
And the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner John Tizard added: ‘There is no evidence to support these comments, and neither the police, the borough council nor I recognise the town described in this speech.’
Mr Stephenson is not the first senior Conservative to suggest there are areas with large non-white populations that white people do not go.
In February 2024, former London minister Paul Scully apologised for claiming there were ‘no-go areas’ in parts of the capital and Birmingham.
The Sutton and Cheam MP had said Tower Hamlets in east London and Sparkhill in inner-city Birmingham were two areas in which a minority of people were ‘abusing’ their religion to make others feel uncomfortable.
He later said his words were a ‘blunt thing that feeds into another set of conspiracy theories’.
‘There are areas of this country where there are tiny, tiny groups of people that cause people to feel uncomfortable,’ he said.
‘That might be a white gang, that might be a black gang, a Muslim gang… and that then tends to write off whole communities for some people.’
