Multicultural UK town bids to turn page on troubled past

One of Britain’s most multicultural cities, long tarnished by extremist links, is increasingly seeking to celebrate its identity despite fierce immigration debates and US President Donald Trump’s warning that Europe risks “civilization being wiped out” by immigrants.

Luton, north London, is one of the few UK towns and cities with a non-white majority. An estimated 150 languages ​​and dialects are spoken in the town with a population of 230,000.

Notorious far-right extremist Tommy Robinson and misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, who are facing trials in the UK and Romania, come from the town where nearly a third of residents are Muslim.

Both used Luton and its struggle with post-industrial deprivation and community cohesion in their stories. In particular, Robinson presented itself as an indigenous resistance to “Islamic extremism.”

Some of the jihadists behind the attacks in England had links to the town. But neither Robinson, 43, nor self-proclaimed misogynist Tate, 39, are to be seen there these days, with residents shunning their divisive beliefs to defend Luton’s diversity.

Lifelong resident Glenn Jenkins, 62, told AFP from a community space he set up: “The unloving energy, the spirit, coming from Tommy and Andrew… it’s absolutely not representative of Luton.”

The property, which houses a music studio among other things, is located near Marsh Farm, a public housing complex once notorious for its poverty, where US-born Tate grew up. He branded it “the worst part of the worst city”.

“Luton is very multicultural and that is one of the treasures of Luton,” Jenkins added.

– ‘Bad press’ –

Known for its airport serving budget airlines and its top-flight football team, Luton was an industrial town for centuries.

Their factory was once famous for hat making and later for vehicle manufacturing.

But like many places, it is struggling with the loss of heavy industry and some of its neighborhoods are among the poorest in Britain.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, first came to national attention in 2009 by founding the now-defunct far-right English Defense League (EDL).

This came after Islamist demonstrators staged an anti-war protest during the parade of soldiers returning from Iraq. Seven Muslim men from Luton appeared in court for branding soldiers rapists, murderers and baby killers.

The town witnessed occasional clashes between the EDL, counter-protesters and police in subsequent years, and much of what locals called “bad press”.

Backed by X owner Elon Musk, Robinson drew some 150,000 people to Britain’s largest ever far-right march in London in September.

But in Luton, which has a large British-South Asian population as well as sizeable Irish and Eastern European heritage communities, leaders say they are working hard and successfully to adapt.

“We are a workshop for peace,” Peter Adams, a lay member of the Anglican St Mary’s Church for nearly two decades, told AFP.

– ‘Two different shots’ –

The city council has long been under Labor control, with the centre-left ruling party retaining its two seats in parliament.

Luton’s ceremonial mayor, Amy Nicholls, who was 30 when she was nominated earlier this year, is the youngest and the first in the LGBTQ community.

But populist Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform UK, which is leading in national polls, may be poised to make headway. He nearly won a recent by-election for a local government seat.

Former Labor and now Conservative councilor Aslam Khan said Reform had raised valid concerns about “illegal immigration” but accused the party of “demonising certain communities” who, like his own, were of Pakistani Muslim heritage.

“It is very unfair to criticize, stigmatize and demonize a community,” he told AFP.

Khan and others argue that economic regeneration plans, which include a £1.7 billion ($2.3 billion) city center regeneration and redesign of the former Vauxhall car factory, are the best way to counter far-right rhetoric.

But Tricia, 75, whose family has lived there for generations, told AFP: “You feel like a stranger in your own town.”

“I think the British are being pushed out all over the country,” he said beneath a World War I memorial bearing the names of his relatives.

Perhaps tellingly, Tricia denied their accusations of racism, stating that her views were not approved by her adult sons.

According to Jenkins, there are “two different ways of looking at the world” in Luton and beyond.

“I know people who love Tommy and they’re my friends and my brothers; I grew up with them, but they’re in the minority,” he said.

He insisted that “people break cultural barriers every day” in the multicultural town.

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