No 10 dismisses US claim of ‘two-tier’ UK policing after Henry Nowak murder
Downing Street says it does not share state department’s view, which Lib Dems condemn as flagrant interference
No 10 has dismissed the Trump administration’s criticism of “two-tier policing” in the UK as the US state department offered condolences to the family of the murdered teenager Henry Nowak.
Downing Street said it did not recognise the state department’s position, echoing the justice secretary, David Lammy, who had earlier said it did not chime with his experience.
The Liberal Democrats have called for the US ambassador to the UK to be summoned over what they called “flagrant foreign interference that seeks to fan the flames of division”.
No 10, however, said the relationship with the US remained “incredibly strong” despite the difference of view on policing. It declined to be drawn on whether the US would be rebuked in any diplomatic conversations.
The US state department gave its criticism of “two-tiered policing” in Britain in a social media post on Thursday offering condolences to the family of Nowak.
The 18-year-old student’s murder has been claimed by some as evidence of two-tier policing in the UK – the argument that some groups of people are dealt with more harshly than others for ideological reasons.
Nowak was handcuffed by Hampshire police officers as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer, Vickrum Digwa, had falsely accused him of racist abuse. Digwa was ultimately convicted of murder and jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years.
The owner of X, Elon Musk, and the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, are among those to have claimed the circumstances of Nowak’s death in Southampton were evidence of bias against white people. Both have in turn been accused of exploiting the teenager’s death.
On Thursday night the US state department, responsible for foreign policy and led by Marco Rubio, waded in to the debate. In a post on X, the department said: “Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilisational decline. They must be rejected across the West. The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time.”
David Lammy, the UK’s deputy prime minister, told Sky News on Friday that he welcomed the US government’s condolences to the Nowak family but said he did not recognise “this caricature of Britain having a two-tier criminal justice system”.
Keir Starmer on Thursday accused Musk of “interfering in our politics” and attempting to create division.
Musk is a regular poster of ethno-nationalist content, and a supporter of Restore Britain, the hard-right party set up by Rupert Lowe, a former Reform MP. He has posted for weeks on his social media platform about Nowak’s murder, often using far-right themes and talking points.
Starmer met Nowak’s family at Downing Street on Thursday to discuss a response to the actions of Hampshire police, saying afterwards that he had been “profoundly humbled” and had promised to take “whatever action is required to right the wrongs in this case”.
The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, is examining the behaviour of the officers who handcuffed Nowak after he had been fatally stabbed.
Eleven police officers and one police dog were injured on Tuesday night after crowds including far-right agitators attacked officers in Southampton in what was billed as a protest about Nowak’s death and his treatment by police.