End ‘anti-white prejudice,’ says Nigel Farage as he blasts 'two-tier justice' in wake of murder of student Henry Nowak
Nigel Farage gave an emergency address on Tuesday after 18-year-old Henry Nowak was arrested after being fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, who falsely claimed racial abuse
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called for an end to "anti-white prejudice" in an emergency address to the nation in the wake of the murder of student Henry Nowak.
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Mr Farage has claimed the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Henry Nowak and the police response that followed are evidence of what he called “two-tier Britain”.
Speaking on Tuesday morning, the Reform UK leader said officers had treated “an accusation of a racial slur more seriously than an act of murder”.
Henry Nowak was handcuffed and arrested after being stabbed four times with an 8-inch ceremonial knife by Vickrum Digwa, 23, who later falsely claimed he had been racially abused by the teenager.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari this morning on LBC, Mr Farage called for Sir Keir Starmer to speak out in depth over the murder.
Complaints from white people go "straight to the back of the queue," Mr Farage told LBC.
“We as a nation have a right to be angry on their behalf."
Mr Farage said the case had prompted little national reaction, contrasting it with the response after the death of George Floyd in the United States, when Sir Keir was photographed taking the knee "just days later".
He argued the case showed “the rights and privileges of white people matter less than ethnic minorities”, and linked the incident to wider concerns over immigration, integration and diversity policies.
Mr Farage continued: “What happened on that night in Southampton perhaps should not be a surprise in two-tier Britain.”
Digwa’s family apologised to his victim’s relatives, and for bringing the Sikh Community into “disrepute”.
The murderer’s mother, Kiran Kaur, awaits sentencing for assisting an offender by taking the knife used to kill the 18-year-old in Southampton back to the nearby family home.
The 53-year-old will be sentenced on July 17 once a pre-sentence report has been prepared on her.
The Digwa family said in a statement: “The loss of a young life is a grief that no family should ever have to carry. We are deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the Nowak family has had to endure.
“We love Vickrum. We will continue to love him. That love does not stand in opposition to the sorrow we feel for the Nowak family. Both are real, and both will remain with us for the rest of our lives.
“We would give anything to turn back time so the path of both Henry and Vickrum never crossed that night. We cannot change what has happened, we just hope that no further pain is caused in its name.
“We apologise to the Sikh community for our son’s actions which have unfairly brought the community into disrepute.
“We ask that this tragedy is not used by anyone to inflame division or hostility towards any community.
“We now ask for privacy as we come to terms with what lies ahead.”
Sentencing Digwa at Southampton Crown Court, Judge William Mousley KC said that the 23-year-old showed a “callous disregard” for the well-being of Mr Nowak by continuing to make films of him suffering and “ignoring much of his desperation at having been stabbed”.
The judge continued: “You told him that had not happened, no doubt to convince others who were nearby.
“Your brother did much the same, although he may just have been accepting that which you had told him, rather than lying himself.
“You lied to him that you had been attacked, picking up on his question about whether it had been accompanied by racism by falsely claiming that Henry had called you a ‘P***’.
“I am sure that Henry had said nothing racist.”
University student Henry was detained by officers in the minutes before his death after Digwa lied and claimed he had called him a “p****” and knocked his turban off during an altercation in December.
Mr Nowak told police officers he “can’t breathe” after being fatally stabbed, to which one officer replied: “I don’t think you have, mate” — minutes before he died from his injuries.
Mr Farage continued: "The sirens blared, and young Henry must have thought that, at last, help was at hand.
"But far, far from it.
"The last thing he heard on this earth was him being read his rights by the police."
Discussing a letter the Daily Telegraph reportedly received on Monday from an “experienced and long-serving” Hampshire police officer, Mr Farage said: “In it, he makes perfectly clear police are told that they must respond to situations in different ways according to the ethnicity of those involved in the crime.”
“The biggest fear a police officer now has… is the fear of being reported for having acted in a way that was racially biased," the Reform UK leader continued.
"That fear now greater than dealing with a dying man lying on the ground.”
The MP praised Mr Nowak's family for responding in an "extraordinarily dignified way", but suggested the public should respond with "pure, cold rage".
"This is wrong," he added.
“All the values and standards of living in a free country where everybody is judged equally before the law have been trashed and thrown away.“
Mr Farage then set out his calls for change.
He said the IOPC “needs to get to the bottom of this” and publish its report quickly.
He also argued the sentence handed down was below the minimum he would expect for “sustained, aggressive, murderous” violence, adding that he would be writing to the Attorney General on Tuesday to ask for it to be reviewed.
Mr Farage said the most important thing now was cultural change, warning that communities risk being “ripped apart” and that people could begin to distrust one another.
Calling for “an end to anti-white prejudice”, he said “white lives matter just as much as black lives” and urged an end to DEI and positive discrimination.
He said Britain should be “a country that treats everyone equally in front of the law” and warned: “I fear where our society will be if we don’t grip this quickly.”
Mr Farage finished with a scathing dig at the Government: “The fish rots from the head down - it is up to police chiefs and government to sort this.”
Digwa was convicted of murder and carrying a ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade in a public place.
On Monday, he was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 21 years before being considered for release.
After the conviction on Friday, temporary Deputy Chief Constable Robert France apologised on behalf of the officers but reiterated that they were deceived, and that they would have been unaware of Mr Nowak’s injury.
Mr France said: "This is an absolutely tragic case and my sympathies are absolutely with Henry’s family, his friends and his loved ones.
"I want to apologise, I want to say that I am sorry that Henry couldn’t be saved at that night. I’m sorry that he was handcuffed and arrested in the moments before he lost consciousness.
"It's quite clear that officers didn’t understand what had happened immediately and that is some of the context I would ask people to understand.
"There had been a delay from those who chose eventually to call them. There were lies, lies from Henry’s killer in that 999 phone call, further lies from his killer as officers arrived on scene.
"Despite Henry telling officers he had been stabbed, it took them some minutes to realise what had really happened.
"But within three minutes of that engagement with Henry, they were giving him first aid. They had taken the handcuffs off and they were giving them first aid."
Mr France added: "We referred ourselves immediately to the Independent Office of Police Conduct the following day and they’ve been independently investigating ever since."