Key facts
- UK government denounced US Vice President JD Vance's comments on the murder of British teenager Henry Nowak.
- Vance linked Nowak's death to the West's "politics of self-hatred" and "mass invasion of migrants."
- Downing Street released a statement emphasizing the family's wish for no further division.
- Nowak's murderer, Vickrum Digwa, was sentenced to life in prison.
- British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy stated Vance was "wrong" and that the murder had no connection to mass migration.
The UK government has strongly criticized remarks made by U.S. Vice President JD Vance regarding the murder of British teenager Henry Nowak. Vance attributed the 18-year-old's death in Southampton to the West's "politics of self-hatred" and "mass invasion of migrants."
In response, a statement from Downing Street late Friday indicated that Nowak's family "do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension." The murder has ignited a fierce debate in the UK about policing, particularly after camera footage emerged showing officers handcuffing Nowak after his murderer, Vickrum Digwa, falsely accused him of racism.
Digwa, 23, who stabbed Nowak with a knife he claimed to carry for religious reasons, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday. Vance had posted on social media that Nowak "died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities."
British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told the BBC on Sunday that he had spoken to Vance on Saturday and told him he was "wrong." Lammy emphasized that the murder had "nothing to do with mass migration" as Nowak's murderer was a British-born citizen. Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer had accused Elon Musk of interfering in British politics due to his commentary on the case.