Lammy hits back at Trump administration’s ‘two-tier policing’ claim over Henry Nowak’s murder
David Lammy has responded to the Trump administration’s claims of “two-tiered policing” in the UK and said he “does not recognize this caricature of Britain”.
Following the murder of Henry Nowak, the US State Department shared a post on social media stating that such police practices that imply anti-white bias should be “rejected”.
A post on
“The United States extends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time.”
But the deputy prime minister told Sky News: “I saw the tweet where they expressed their condolences for the Nowak family.
“The United States and the United Kingdom have a close and special relationship, and I welcome their condolences.
“I don’t accept this caricature of England having a two-tier police force, nor do I think the vast majority of the public accept that.
“Farage was a contrarian, his behavior was disgraceful and none of the other political parties accept that.”
Police CCTV footage from the night Mr Nowak was fatally stabbed last December shows him telling officers he had been stabbed and repeatedly saying he couldn’t breathe.
His killer, Vickrum Digwa, was handcuffed by Hampshire police officers after he falsely claimed he was the victim of a racist attack, who refused his pleas. Mr. Nowak died a short time later.
The Liberal Democrats called on Sir Keir to summon the US ambassador over the Foreign Office’s intervention.
Calum Miller, the party’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, said: “The three main party leaders in parliament yesterday were right to call for calm, respect and unity.
“The Trump administration should not use the tragic murder of Henry Nowak as a political football. This is a blatant foreign intervention aimed at fueling the fires of division, and the prime minister should immediately summon the US ambassador.”
The latest intervention by the US government comes after billionaire
Sir Keir Starmer accused him of “interfering in our politics in the last few days, trying to foment division, that’s not who we are in Britain.”
Asked about the tech mogul’s comments, Mr Lammy said: “I think there’s an IPO on Starlink in America this week. Elon Musk should go ahead with that. I mean by tweeting over 100 times about this tragic, terrible case.”
“Anyone who saw the video [of Nowak]Very sad and terrifying. I have two teenage sons.
“My heart goes out to the Nowak family. Let’s not exploit their situation. They asked for calm, of course they asked us to look more closely at the issues around knife crime.
“Let’s respect them. I think Elon Musk should really stay away from this complicated but painful situation for that family.”
Nigel Farage was also heavily criticized by MPs across the political spectrum after releasing a video on Tuesday morning calling for “pure, cold anger” in response to the murder.
That evening violent protests broke out outside Southampton police station, in which 11 police officers and a dog were injured.
The Prime Minister said Mr Farage’s actions were “inexcusable” and accused him of “merely pretending” to sympathize with the teenager’s family, who specifically called for their son’s death not to be used to sow division.
Asked why he did not immediately condemn scenes in which almost a dozen police officers were injured in clashes with protesters on Tuesday, Mr Farage told GB News: “Of course I condemn all violence. I always have… In my 35 years in politics I have never advocated for people to go beyond the law.”
“When I made that big video that got millions of views, I was pretty careful not to blame the police officers too much.”
The Reform leader said he had agreed to meet Mr Nowak’s family following similar talks with Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir.
