Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has told US Vice-President JD Vance he was 'wrong' to blame the murder of teenager Henry Nowak on a 'mass invasion of migrants', after the pair held a telephone conversation on Saturday.
Vance wrote on X on Friday that Nowak had died 'the same way a civilisation dies: abandoned and handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him'. He claimed the 18-year-old 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'.
“David Lammy told JD Vance his comments linking Henry Nowak's murder to migration were 'wrong'.”
But Lammy, speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, said he had called the vice-president to tell him he was wrong because the killing 'has got nothing to do with mass migration'. He described the conversation as 'agreeable' and 'robust', adding: 'We remain colleagues and friends, we're able to do that, and he has strongly held views.'
The murder of Henry Nowak — a British student fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa in Southampton last December — has sparked fierce debate over policing and knife laws, with violent protests erupting in the city. Bodycam footage showed police handcuffing Nowak as he lay dying after Digwa falsely claimed to officers he was the victim of a racist attack. Digwa, who is British and was born in the UK, was jailed for life for murder. He had claimed he was carrying the blade for religious reasons linked to his Sikh faith.
Nowak's father, Mark, appealed for calm in a statement outside court following the sentencing, saying: 'We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.' Lammy said he reminded Vance of that plea. Downing Street has also hit out at those 'seeking to stir up division' over the killing.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the actions of officers who encountered Nowak after he had been stabbed. Many who have seen the footage have expressed shock and concern. The murder has been seized upon by political figures, with some in the House of Lords using it as evidence for broader arguments about equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives weakening policing. Doreen Lawrence reminded the House that a family's grief should not be turned into a political weapon.