Highlights
- US vice president JD Vance links murder of British student to civilisational decline
- He says only response should be 'righteous anger'
- UK government denies claims of two-tier policing
- Teen was handcuffed by police after killer falsely alleged racism
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer's office has denounced "people trying to interfere in our democracy" after US vice president JD Vance blamed the murder of a white student on what he called the "mass invasion of migrants" into Europe.
Vance waded into the row over the death of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old finance and accounting student who was stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, a Sikh man, in Southampton in December. Digwa, who told police he was the victim after falsely claiming Nowak had racially insulted him, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday (1).
Video footage showed officers ignoring Nowak's pleas as he lay dying in handcuffs, sparking widespread anger over police handling of the case.
Posting on X, Vance said Nowak "died the same way a civilisation dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit."
He added that Nowak would be alive today "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."
Downing Street responded by saying the Nowak family did not want Henry's death used to create further division, hatred or tension.
"In recent days we have seen people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets," a Downing Street spokesman said. "Our politics should bring people together even in the most terrible of circumstances. That is who we are as a country."
Musk attacks police
Earlier, Starmer also aimed at US tech billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X, accusing him on Thursday (4) of "trying to whip up division" over the case.
Musk had posted repeatedly on his platform claiming British police were biased against white people, asking in one post whether people knew that "official police policy requires them to be racist against Whites." He has also offered to fund a private prosecution against Hampshire Police over its handling of the murder.
The case has been seized upon by far-right figures and populist politician Nigel Farage, who have used it to promote claims of "two-tier policing" — the allegation that fears of being accused of racism have led to ethnic minorities receiving greater protections than white people. Police chiefs and the government have vehemently denied the claim.
Henry Nowak Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary
Starmer condemned a violent protest that took place on Tuesday (2) and called it "unforgivable" to exploit the death to stir tension, after Farage called for people to respond with "pure cold rage."
Hampshire Police has rejected accusations of bias, though police chiefs have said they will review guidelines on how officers treat different ethnicities, drawn up in response to decades of documented racism in policing.
Deputy prime minister David Lammy told Sky News he welcomed US condolences to the Nowak family but said he did not recognise "this caricature of Britain having a two-tier criminal justice system."
Strained relations
The row has added fresh friction to already strained UK-US relations. The US State Department on Thursday condemned what it called "ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing" in Nowak's treatment. Downing Street rejected those comments while insisting the bilateral relationship remained "incredibly strong."
Relations between the two countries have been under strain since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February, with president Donald Trump repeatedly criticising Starmer for failing to provide greater support.
Meanwhile, government statistics show black people in England and Wales are more than twice as likely to be arrested as white people.
(with inputs from agencies)
