Addressing the Norwegian court where he is on trial for the massacre of 77 people, Breivik reportedly described "war-like conditions" in the multicultural Bedfordshire town and referred to so-called "Islamic no-go zones". He is also said to have claimed that Muslims want sharia law in "places like Luton".
Local figures lined up to pour scorn on his allegations. David Jonathan, a co-ordinator at Luton Council of Faiths, said the reality was "quite different" to what Breivik implied.
"Luton is a welcoming place," he said. "I know many people who have come to Luton and chosen to make it their home. Those who choose to remain on the peripheries will always have this sense of fear of no-go areas. We're not saying there are no problems – there are problems of segregation and lack of interaction – but people aren't trying to impose sharia law."
Local councillors also dismissed Breivik's rant. Liberal Democrat Jenny Davies described it as "a piece of nonsense", saying:
"He's clearly never been here, or if he has I don't know where he's been. I can only think that he's picked up on stuff that's been said about Luton and decided the town's a wasteland, which it isn't. There are plenty of things in this town I could criticise but none of them have anything to do with the fact that we're a multicultural community. I really do wish these nutters would stop picking on Luton and talking about it in this way because that's not the way it is."
Labour councillor Mahmood Hussain denied the town had any problems regarding race or religion. He said: "I would challenge anyone anywhere in the world to go into every single part of Luton and tell me where these no-go areas are. I represent a very mixed community, which has Irish, eastern European, black, Hindu and Muslim residents, and I've lived here since 1969 and there's never been any part of Luton that's been a no-go area."
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