'Trying To Out-Reform Reform!' Senior Tory Accused Of Peddling Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories

A senior Conservative has been accused of trying to ape Reform UK after he declared Luton has “no-go zones” where “white people won’t go”.

Blake Stephenson, who was appointed as shadow Home Office minister last month, told a fringe meeting at the annual Conservative Party conference in Birmingham that the town is a “very dangerous place”.

According to the Guardian, he told a Centre for Policy Studies meeting: “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.

“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.”

The idea of “no-go areas” is one which has been growing in popularity among mainstream politicians in recent years.

Former Tory minister Paul Scully sparked alarm in 2024 when he claimed there were religious “no-go areas” in London and Birmingham.

Lee Anderson, now Reform UK’s chief whip, was kicked off the Tory benches after his false claim that London mayor Sadiq Khan and then-Labour leader Keir Starmer are “controlled by Islamists”.

He alleged that Khan had “given our capital city away to his mates”.

More than a decade ago, Reform UK leader – then Ukip leader – Nigel Farage also said there were no-go zones for non-Muslims in most big cities in France, and claimed “big ghettos” had been allowed to develop across Europe.

The idea used to be on the fringes of politics. Far-right activist Tommy Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – claimed there were “no-go zones” for white people in Luton when he co-founded the extremist group, the English Defence League, in 2009.

Meanwhile, terrorist mass murderer Anders Breivik told a court in Oslo in 2012 that Luton has “more than 1,000 Islamic no-go zones where police do not dare pass through”.

Stephenson’s remarks sparked immediate criticism from Labour.

The MP for Luton North, Sarah Owen, told the Guardian: “It is deeply irresponsible for any politician, let alone a senior Conservative, to peddle the same rightwing 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.”

He was slammed on social media too, as X users accused him of “trying to out-Reform Reform” and said they were “ashamed” to see him use such terms.

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