UK hits
back after Vance’s comments over murder of British teenager
The death
sparked violent protests in the U.K. and a fierce debate about British
policing.
June 6,
2026 11:47 am CET
By Clea
Caulcutt
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-hits-back-jd-vance-comments-over-henry-nowak-death/
The U.K.
government denounced “people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking
to stir up division,” after U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s comments over the
death of British teenager Henry Nowak.
Vance
blamed the death of the 18-year-old, who was killed last year in the southern
city of Southampton, on the West’s “politics of self-hatred” and “the mass
invasion of migrants.”
The
Nowak’s death has sparked a fierce debate about policing in the U.K., triggered
by recently released camera footage that showed police officers handcuffing the
teenager after his murderer, Vickrum Digwa, falsely accused him of racism.
A
statement from Downing Street late Friday said Nowak’s family “do not want his
death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.”
Violent
protests broke out earlier this week as details of Nowak’s death emerged and
spurred claims the U.K. has a “two-tiered” justice system that is biased
against white people.
Digwa, a
23-year-old Sikh, who stabbed Nowak with a knife he claimed to be carrying for
religious reasons, was sentenced to life in jail on Monday.
In his
post on Friday, Vance wrote that “Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization
dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities. … His murder is as tragic as it is
enraging.”
Reform UK
leader Nigel Farage, who has been criticized for urging the public to respond
to Nowak’s death with “pure, cold rage,” reposted Vance’s remarks on social
media without comment.
Earlier
in the week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Elon Musk of
interfering in British politics after the owner of the X social media platform
posted a flurry of comments about Nowak’s death.
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