Henry Nowak’s parents were being shown around the Victorian maze of the Houses of Parliament when, by chance, they heard politicians talking about their son’s murder. The leader of the Commons, Alan Campbell, and his opposite number, Jesse Norman, both paid tribute to the 18-year-old’s dignity. In a terrible week of grief, the family were touched. But the same could not be said for the ugly scenes in the Commons the day before, when MPs rounded on Reform leader Nigel Farage as he repeated his claim that “growing millions” believe in “two-tier policing”. Hampshire’s Conservative police commissioner, Donna Jones, who has been supporting the Nowaks, told the BBC: “Farage’s comments on Wednesday were irresponsible and will lead to more division on Britain’s streets.”
Six more people have now been charged with violent disorder after protests erupted in Southampton following the release of bodycam footage showing police handcuffing Nowak as he lay dying. His killer, Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh who claimed he was carrying a knife for religious reasons, had falsely accused Nowak of racism. Digwa was sentenced to life in jail on Monday. The footage prompted a wave of political reaction, including from X owner Elon Musk, who wrote: “Send the video to everyone you know showing how heinously Nowak was treated by the police in his dying moments.” Sir Keir Starmer accused Musk of “trying to whip up division” and seeking to interfere in British politics. “We are reasonable, tolerant people,” the prime minister said. “When we have a terrible case like Henry’s, we react calmly, as his family have done.”
“Nowak family pleads for calm as Farage, Musk and Vance inflame tensions over police handcuffing of dying teenager.”
Now the US vice-president, JD Vance, has piled in, blaming Nowak’s death on “the politics of self-hatred” and “the mass invasion of migrants”. In a statement late Friday, Downing Street said the Nowak family “do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension”. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who met the family on Thursday, said they had asked for cross-party work to rebuild trust in the police. She also called for an examination of “religious practices or exemptions that permit the carrying of dangerous weapons in public”. But the argument has gone way beyond one family – a new fault line in British politics, now involving the Trump administration.