LONDON – In an incident that has stirred significant controversy, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office on Friday expressed strong disapproval of remarks made by U.S. Vice President JD Vance. Vance had attributed the tragic death of a university student, who succumbed to a stab wound while handcuffed, to issues surrounding immigration.
The victim, 18-year-old Henry Nowak, passed away in December after being attacked in Southampton by Vickrum Digwa. Despite both individuals being British, Digwa had misleadingly claimed to the police that Nowak, who was white, had racially assaulted him. This false accusation initially led officers to treat the injured Nowak as a suspect. It was only later that they recognized his critical condition and attempted to save his life.
Digwa, aged 23, was found guilty of murder after using a Sikh dagger to fatally wound Nowak. This week, he received a life sentence with a minimum incarceration period of 21 years. The case has quickly become a focal point for anti-immigration rhetoric, despite the fact that both men involved were British citizens.
On Tuesday, tensions boiled over in Southampton as police faced hostility from demonstrators, including far-right activists, who were protesting Nowak’s death. The scene turned violent with objects like chairs, cans, rocks, and flares being hurled at officers.
Adding fuel to the fire, Vice President Vance took to the social platform X on Friday to voice his opinion. He called for “righteous anger” in response to the murder, controversially linking it to what he described as a “mass invasion of migrants,” suggesting that many hold disdain for Western values and its supporters.
In a statement issued in response to Vance’s comments, Starmer’s office criticized 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,” Downing Street said in a statement. “Our politics should bring people together even in the most terrible of circumstances. That is who we are as a country.”
Ed Davey, leader of the centrist opposition Liberal Democrats, said “we all need to resist attempts like this to politicize Henry Nowak’s death and divide our country — whether they come from MAGA politicians like Vance or their cronies here in the U.K..”
Politicians including Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right party Reform UK, have claimed that the police response is evidence of “two-tier” policing, with a bias against white people in the British justice system.
The U.S. State Department echoed the “two-tier” policing claim in a post on X Thursday, expressing condolences to Nowak’s family and saying that “Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline.”
The British government rejected the “two-tier” allegation, which is not backed by statistical evidence.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which investigates allegations of police wrongdoing, is probing the actions of police officers responding to Nowak’s stabbing.
The victim’s father, Mark Nowak, has said the case was not about racism or religion, and that he wanted his son’s death to lead to safer streets and not to be used to create “further division, hatred or tension.”
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