Keir Starmer hits back at JD Vance for 'stirring up division' after he pointed to 'migrant invasion' as cause for Henry Nowak's murder

Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at “people trying to interfere in our democracy and stir up division in our streets” after JD Vance blamed an "invasion" of migrants for the circumstances which led to Henry Nowak’s murder.

The US Vice President said Mr Nowak would still be alive if Europeans had "stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants" and called for "righteous anger" in response.

Mr Vance said: "Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit.

"His murder is as tragic as it is enraging."

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He added: "He should still be alive today, and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it."

In response to the violent unrest in Southampton on Tuesday night, near the spot where Mr Nowak was killed, Mr Vance said: "Henry was far from the first to so needlessly lose his life, and I fear he won’t be the last.

"Each time a life like his is lost, the proper response - the only response - is righteous anger.

"One of the most important things the Trump administration has proven to the world is that stopping the flow of mass migration and defending national sovereignty is a matter of political will and leadership.

The Vice President added: "Anything else is an excuse."

A No 10 spokesman said: “In recent days we have seen people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets.

"The Nowak family are grieving after Henry’s horrific murder.

"They have said they do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We should be respecting their wishes."

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They added: "Our politics should bring people together even in the most terrible of circumstances. That is who we are as a country.”

The transatlantic row erupted when the US State Department linked "two-tier policing” to Mr Nowak’s death.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s department said: "Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline.

"They must be rejected across the West."

He added: "The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time."

Downing Street rejected “any suggestion of two-tier policing across the United Kingdom".

Digwa was given a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years in prison for stabbing Mr Nowak with a ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade, which he carried as part of his Sikh religion.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating Hampshire Police’s response in Mr Nowak’s case.

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