Key takeaways:
- JD Vance said Henry Nowak would still be alive if European elites had opposed what he called the “mass invasion of migrants.”
- Vickrum Digwa was convicted of murdering 18-year-old Henry Nowak and jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years.
- The Independent Office for Police Conduct is reviewing police actions after footage showed officers handcuffing Nowak as he lay dying.
Downing Street accused unnamed figures of trying to interfere in British democracy and stir division after US Vice-President JD Vance blamed the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak on mass migration.
Vance wrote on X that Nowak, a British student fatally stabbed in Southampton in December, would still be alive “if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it.” He described the killing as “tragic as it is enraging” and said the “only response is righteous anger,” the BBC reported.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office did not name Vance directly, but responded by saying: “In recent days we have seen people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets.”
“The Nowak family are grieving after Henry’s horrific murder. They have said they do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We should be respecting their wishes,” a Downing Street spokesperson said. “Our politics should bring people together even in the most terrible of circumstances. That is who we are as a country.”
Nowak’s killing has prompted national outrage after footage showed police officers handcuffing him as he lay dying from stab wounds. His killer, Vickrum Digwa, falsely claimed Nowak had racially abused him and that he had acted in self-defence. Digwa, a British-born Sikh, was convicted of murder and jailed for life, with a minimum term of 21 years.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is examining the actions of the officers who handcuffed Nowak after he had been fatally stabbed. There were violent protests near the scene of the killing in Southampton after the release of bodycam footage, the BBC reported.
Starmer met Nowak’s family at Downing Street on Thursday to discuss the response to Hampshire police’s actions. He said afterward that he had promised to take “whatever action is required to right the wrongs in this case.” The family has asked that Nowak’s death not be used to create further division, hatred or tension.
Vance’s post followed comments from the US State Department, led by Marco Rubio, which framed the case as an example of the UK’s “civilizational decline.” The department wrote on X: “Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline. They must be rejected across the West. The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time.”
Starmer rejected the State Department’s description of UK policing, telling LBC: “It is really important that we are very, very clear, policing without fear or favour, whatever anybody else says, and wherever they’re saying it from, whichever country in the world.” He also said Britain must not avoid difficult questions about the police response.
The Liberal Democrats called for the US ambassador to the UK to be summoned over what party leader Ed Davey described as “flagrant foreign interference that seeks to fan the flames of division.” Davey said the Trump administration was “attacking our democracy, not in secret, but openly on social media.”
“We all need to resist attempts like this to politicise Henry Nowak’s death and divide our country – whether they come from MAGA politicians like Vance or their cronies here in the UK,” Davey said, according to the BBC.
Downing Street said the relationship with the United States remained “incredibly strong” despite the disagreement over policing, and declined to say whether US officials would be rebuked in diplomatic talks.
Nowak’s murder has been cited by some right-wing figures as evidence of “two-tier policing” in the UK, the argument that some groups are treated more harshly than others for ideological reasons. Elon Musk and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have claimed the circumstances of Nowak’s death showed bias against white people, while critics have accused them of exploiting the teenager’s killing.
Starmer accused Musk earlier this week of “interfering in our politics” and “trying to whip up division” over the case. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told Sky News he welcomed the US government’s condolences to the Nowak family but did not recognise “this caricature of Britain having a two-tier criminal justice system.”
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