Stephen Lawrence’s mother hits out at Badenoch over comments about son and makes Henry Nowak equality plea
The mother of Stephen Lawrence has hit out at Kemi Badenoch for comments made about her son and has called on politicians not to halt progress on racial equality in the UK following the murder of Henry Nowak.
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Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon shared her condolences with the 18-year-old's family who was arrested by officers as he lay dying in Southampton in December.
Mr Nowak’s killer, Vickrum Digwa, 23, told police at the scene of the stabbing that he had been the victim of a racist attack.
The case has sparked national outrage and sparked violent protests against police on Tuesday which left 11 officers and a dog injured.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has announced it will review anti-racism guidance.
Read more: Sadiq Khan accuses Farage and Tories of using Henry Nowak's death for political ends
The guidance currently establishes a "commitment to racial equity" and notes this "does not mean treating everyone 'the same' or being 'colour blind'".
In the House of Lords, former Metropolitan Police officer Lord Davies of Gower said “all instances of identity politics must be consigned to the dustbin of history".
Lady Lawrence, a Labour peer, said on Wednesday: "My condolence goes out to Henry Nowak’s family.
"I think what’s happened with him should never have happened. And the police should be at fault for what happened on that night."
She spoke out at comments made by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch who wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper that "Henry’s murder and the police’s botched response must be a seminal moment for Britain on a par with the murder of Stephen Lawrence".
Ms Badenoch wrote: "Many battles have been won in making our society better and fairer since then.
"Yet now we are going backwards – because of a pernicious identity politics amplified in 2020 by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minnesota while being restrained by a white police officer."
Lady Lawrence said: "When my son was murdered, there was nobody standing up and asking for judgment to happen for him.
"And the mere fact that the leader of the Opposition in the Other Place can use my son's name in referring to reform – it took 20 years and more for anybody to understand the murder of my son and to have anybody convicted."
She said many peers had "no idea what race equality means".
She added: "I think to be in here and you stand in a position of power that you can say that you want to change and go back to what it was before – for me, what we’ve moved on to is a much better equality for all in this country."
After 18-year-old Mr Lawrence was murdered in a racist attack in 1993, an inquiry found "institutional racism" in the Metropolitan Police and other forces.
Mrs Lawrence's comments came after the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) implored the public not to speculate about their investigation into Nowak's death.
IOPC engagement director Derrick Campbell said: “We are acutely aware of the public interest in this case.
“We would respectfully ask people to stop speculating on an ongoing live investigation.
“This investigation is going to fully establish the circumstances of the case including whether there may be misconduct on the part of any of the officers involved.
“The ongoing commentary about the evidence and speculation risks prejudicing any potential processes and preventing Henry Nowak’s family getting the answers they deserve.”
Conservative former MP Baroness Cash said Mr Nowak’s murder had raised "issues about the conduct of the police and their paranoia on the ground", calling for “a proper review of police training".
Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint replied: "I know that the (National) Police Chiefs’ Council and the Government will reflect on the issue of training.
"But I’ll just say that the police still have a sacred duty to police without fear or favour.
"Everyone in this country is equal before the law and it is the promise on which our justice system rests.
"The equality of the citizen is the foundation of that policing and we will look at the lessons to be learned. It’s not an empty phrase."
Stephen Lawrence was murdered in an unprovoked attack by a gang of white youths as he waits at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993.