Keir Starmer has condemned Nigel Farage ‘whipping up division’ with his response to Henry Nowak’s death, accusing him of going against the wishes of the grieving family.
Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, the prime minister said Farage’s reaction to Nowak’s killing “is the wrong reaction.”
Earlier in the day, Farage had released a video message claiming that the teen’s death was evidence of a “two-tier culture” in Britain where white people’s rights “matter less than those of ethnic minorities.”
Nowak, 18, died in December last year after he was stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, in Southampton in December last year whilst he was walking home alone after a night out.
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Body cam footage showed police handcuffing Nowak on the ground as the teenager told them he had been stabbed and couldn’t breathe.
Digwa had lied to the police that Nowak had racially abused him and he was acting in self-defence.
Farage compared the tragedy to the death of George Floyd in the US in May 2020, and asked why there was not a similar level of outrage from politicians and the public to Nowak’s death.
This was despite Nowak’s family saying on Monday they did not want Henry’s death to be used “to create further hatred, division or tension.”
Responding to Farage’s comments, Starmer pointed to the family’s words.
“They have been through the most extraordinary, awful experience, they don’t want this whipped up,” the PM said. “Nigel Farage is completely wrong to use this to try and create division.
“It would be wrong in any circumstances but when Henry’s family are saying ‘please don’t do that, it’s our son,’ then really as politicians, as human beings, we should start where they start.”
Starmer said he “felt sick” watching the body cam footage of Nowak’s arrest, and that there are “serious questions that need to be addressed.”
In particular, he called for clarity on how much Digwa’s false accusations of racism had “informed the decision making in this case.”