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  "path": "/politics/politics-news-latest-starmer-farage-kemi-conservatives-labour",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-05T06:27:59.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "sentencing of Vickrum Digwa, the Prime Minister has been accused of dithering by his own MPs.",
    "WATCH THE FULL EPISODE OF CHOPPER'S POLITICAL PODCAST HERE.",
    "READ THE FULL STORY HERE.",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nLabour backbenchers have accused Sir Keir Starmer of not being quick enough to react to the murder of Henry Nowak.\n\nWhile Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch both put out statements not long after the sentencing of Vickrum Digwa, the Prime Minister has been accused of dithering by his own MPs.\n\nThe student’s killer, 23-year-old Digwa, told police attending the scene of the stabbing that he had been the victim of a racist attack, while Mr Nowak was handcuffed by police as he lay dying.\n\nOne backbench Labour MP told The Times: \"There’s a sense among colleagues that the government wasn’t quite aware of how big this case was.\n\n\"We weren’t speedy enough to get on the front foot and we have once again fallen into the same trap that Farage and Co lay us which makes us look as though we have downplayed it.\"\n\nAnother added: \"It’s a pattern that sums up this Government. It doesn’t seem to smell danger and then when danger hits us we are too slow to react.\"\n\nHowever, a Government source defended its response, saying: \"It’s incredibly important we respond to these events with dignity, calmness and empathy and not rush into a knee-jerk reaction.\"\n\nLast night, the Prime Minister said he was \"profoundly humbled\" to have a private discussion with the teenager’s family in Downing Street on Thursday afternoon, and said Mr Nowak \"deserves a legacy that goes beyond this awful tragedy\".\n\nSir Keir said after the meeting: \"I was moved to learn more about Henry, his kindness, his warmth, and his love of football, and I am grateful to his family. There is no doubt he had a bright future ahead of him, a future cruelly stolen from him in appalling circumstances.\n\n\"Henry deserves a legacy that goes beyond this awful tragedy, and I am committed to making that happen. I am determined that we do everything in our power to prevent other families from suffering such a devastating loss.\n\n\"There are difficult questions that need to be answered about the way the police handled Henry’s murder. The Independent Office for Police Conduct are investigating. We will be unflinching in taking whatever action is required to right the wrongs in this case.\n\n\"It is our duty now to ensure that lessons are learned, that justice is delivered and that we choose unity and progress over division and hatred. This is the only way to honour Henry’s memory.\"\n\n_**_FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…_**_\n\n _**_\n_**_\n\n### David Lammy says Elon Musk needs to 'step back' from posting about Henry Nowak\n\n\n\n\nDavid Lammy has said Elon Musk should “step back” from tweeting about the case of Henry Nowak and “get on with” his IPO.\n\nIt comes after Sir Keir Starmer accused the billionaire X owner of seeking to whip up division.\n\nThe Deputy Prime Minister told Sky News: \"I think there’s an IPO this week in the States on Starlink. Elon Musk should get on with that. I mean, tweeting over 100 times about this tragic, horrific case.\n\n\"Anyone who’s seen the video, it’s so harrowing and appalling. I’ve got two teenage sons. My heart goes out to the Nowak family. Let us not exploit their situation. They have asked for calm, they have asked of course for us to look closely at the issues around knife crime.\n\n\"Let us respect them. Elon Musk really, I think, he should stay out of this complex but painful situation for that family.\"\n\nHe later added: \"I urge Elon Musk to stay out of tweeting about this sensitive case.\"\n\nBut he said he was not minded to stop using X as a platform.\n\n\"I don’t spend time on X surfing Elon Musk tweets, so I haven’t read them, but I’m not sure any of them reached the standard that require that. But I think it is appropriate for politicians to urge Elon Musk to step back.\"\n\n### Keir Starmer 'will not walk away' from Andy Burnham leadership challenge\n\n\n\n\nPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer \"will not walk away\" after Andy Burnham said he will challenge him for the Labour leadership if he wins the Makerfield by-election.\n\nDowning Street said the process for challenging the Labour leader \"has not been triggered\", and that the country expects ministers to “focus on governing”.\n\nThe Greater Manchester Mayor, widely viewed as Sir Keir’s main rival, has previously promised a vote for him in Makerfield would be a vote to “change Labour” but had not explicitly said he would launch a bid until pressed on the BBC’s Question Time by-election special.\n\nAppearing on the programme, Mr Burnham said a \"fundamental change\" is needed in Westminster to restore the public’s trust in politicians.\n\nHitting back at Mr Burnham, a Downing Street spokesman said: \"With Keir Starmer’s leadership, this Labour Government is supporting people with the cost of living, cutting NHS waiting lists, restoring control of our borders and lifting half a million children out of poverty.\n\n\"The country expects us to focus on governing and to deliver change for hard-working people, not get distracted by Westminster debates.\n\n\"The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and it has not been triggered. The Prime Minister will not walk away from the mandate he was given just two years ago to build a stronger, fairer Britain.\"\n\n### Rejoining European Union will NOT be issue at next election, Keir Starmer's Brexit chief pledges\n\n\n\n\nThe next general election will not be fought over whether Britain should rejoin the European Union, Sir Keir Starmer's chief Brexit negotiator has pledged.\n\nNick Thomas-Symonds, Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations, said he was firmly fixed on developing what he called a \"post-Brexit landscape\" with the EU.\n\nThis did not involve breaching any of Labour's three red lines on Brexit in the party's 2024 election manifesto: no return to the single market, customs union or freedom of movement.\n\nBrexit has been thrust back into the spotlight after Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham suggested they wanted to take the UK back into the bloc if either replaces Sir Keir as Prime Minister.\n\nWATCH THE FULL EPISODE OF CHOPPER'S POLITICAL PODCAST HERE.\n\n### Home Office told control of asylum system 'all but lost' after 'losing' illegal migrants in Britain\n\n\n\n\nThe Home Office has admitted it is \"unable to prove it can manage asylum accommodation effectively\", as a damning new report found control was \"all but lost\".\n\nParliament's spending watchdog has delivered a scathing \"end-to-end snapshot\" of Shabana Mahmood's asylum system, warning mistakes made by civil servants are doomed to be repeated.\n\nSir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said: \"At the time of our inquiry, control of it had been all but lost. The focus on short-term, reactive 'fixes' has left the Government chasing after pressures pushed from one part of the system to the next.\"\n\nHe slammed the lack of a \"clear strategy uniting efforts\", adding communication between departments and local authorities is \"patchy at best\".\n\nREAD THE FULL STORY HERE.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Keir Starmer slammed by his own MPs for reaction to Henry Nowak's murder"
}