Kemi Badenoch stands by Tory MP who claimed there are ‘no-go zones’ for white people in Luton

Kemi Badenoch stands by Tory MP who claimed there are ‘no-go zones’ for white people in Luton Blake Stephenson, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, was speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative party conference when he made the remark - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in Kemi Badenoch has said she stands by a Tory MP who said that Luton has "no-go zones" for white people. Blake Stephenson, a shadow home office minister and the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, voiced the comments during a fringe meeting at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham. He alleged that the town was a "shadow of its former self" and represents a "very dangerous place" where distinct communities inhabit "ghettoes". Conservative leader Mrs Badenoch defended his comments when questioned during an interview with ITV News. “I don’t know the context of Blake’s comments,” she told the broadcaster, but insisted he was “very sensible”. Robert Jenrick, now a member of Reform UK, was heavily criticised last year when he was a Conservative MP for complaining of not seeing “another white face” in an area of Birmingham he had visited. Mrs Badenoch was asked whether she believed Mr Stephenson’s remarks resembled those of the Reform MP. She told ITV: “No, not quite. If Blake Stephenson 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. “Robert Jenrick is Nigel Farage’s problem now. Nigel has done my spring cleaning, Robert can go create all his problems over there. I’m very happy to stand by what Blake Stephenson said.” Mr Stephenson made the remark as he appeared at an immigration-focused Tory fringe event on Monday. He said he knew Luton well as the MP for the neighbouring constituency of Mid Bedfordshire. The Tory MP added: “I think the town is a shadow of its former self. 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, and it’s not alone. “There are other towns across the country in a similar situation, and it’s dreadful where we’ve got to. “We can move on from it, but it requires deep levels of integration, and we need to break apart these – I don’t mean this in some … this is where it gets icky – but we need to make sure we don’t have ghettos where there are no-go zones for anybody. “The country is for all of us, you know, not just certain communities.” He 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. “I say on the right because Labour have been sort of talking tough, and now they’re rowing back because it’s getting a bit awkward with their backbenchers and the unions. We know the Greens don’t care about this topic at all. “So it’s up to us to put a plan together and deliver. And we’ve got the borders plan. You know, some of that may feel a bit icky for some people, but we’ve got to we’ve got to face into it, lean into it.”