Kemi Badenoch accuses Farage of playing identity politics over Henry Nowak murder
Kemi Badenoch accused Nigel Farage of “playing identity politics” after urging people to respond with “pure cold anger” to the murder of Henry Nowak.
The Conservative Party leader said Mr Farage was acting like a “rabble-rouser” by accusing him of “whipping people” over the death of the 18-year-old student.
Mr Nowak was ignored when he told officers he had been stabbed and instead died while being arrested after his killer claimed he was the victim of a racist attack.
The cause has been seized upon by politicians including Mr Farage, Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk.
In a video statement on Tuesday morning, the Reform UK leader said Mr Nowak had been “treated in a way that meant an accusation of racial slur should be taken more seriously than an act of murder” and said people should react with “pure cold anger”.
However, Ms Badenoch condemned this address and said: Times His call “is not something someone proposing to be prime minister should say.”
“For all those who nominate ourselves as prime ministers in this country, we must behave like statesmen and women, not rabble-rousers. We don’t need anger. We don’t need anger and whipping people, we need courage, bravery and cool heads,” he said.
He also accused her of “playing identity politics” and “dividing people along racial lines.”
“For him to say that means he’s doing exactly the same thing as the Black Lives Matter movement, which I completely oppose. He’s just the flip side of that. He follows the talk book about who’s victimized, who’s oppressed, so people get angry and start attacking,” he said.
“Nigel Farage, like so many others, is playing identity politics. He doesn’t care whether we split into tribes or not, as long as he can pick a tribe for himself and win elections or votes.”
He later wrote of
“If there’s one thing that should come from Henry’s death, it’s that we make things better so that this doesn’t happen to any of our children. I’m committed to that. I don’t want his death to be in vain.”
“Let’s do this for Henry. Let’s fix this.”
Mr Nowak’s killer, Vickrum Digwa, 23, told police who attended the stabbing in Southampton on December 3, 2025, that he was the victim of a racist attack.
In body-worn camera footage of the incident, a handcuffed Mr. Nowak can be heard repeatedly saying, “I was stabbed,” to which a police officer responds, “I don’t think you were stabbed, man.”
Two men were arrested for assaulting police and possessing a weapon after hundreds of people gathered outside Southampton Central Police Station on Tuesday. Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) and actor and campaigner Laurence Fox were among those speaking to the crowd.
Scenes of violence broke out after a large group marched across the city towards the Portswood area, as demonstrators chanted “Henry, Henry” and bricks were pelted at police lines.
Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood said the scenes were “completely unacceptable” and accused demonstrators of “hijacking this tragedy to incite violence and mayhem”.
