David Lammy says he told JD Vance his Henry Nowak comments were ‘wrong’

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has said he called US Vice-President JD Vance to tell him he was “wrong” in the comments he made about the murder of teenager Henry Nowak.

Vance blamed the death of the 18-year-old British student, who was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa last year, on the “mass invasion of migrants” and said the “only response” was “righteous anger”.

Lammy told the BBC he had spoken to Vance on Saturday and told the vice-president the killing “has got nothing to do with mass migration”.

Digwa falsely claimed he had been racially abused and had acted in self-defence after murdering Nowak in Southampton in December last year.

Digwa, who is British and was born in the UK, was jailed for life for murdering Nowak with a blade he claimed he was carrying for religious reasons linked to his Sikh faith.

Bodycam footage showed police handcuffing Nowak as he lay dying after Digwa falsely claimed to officers he was the victim of a racist attack.

The killing ignited a fierce debate about policing and knife laws in the UK, with violent protests erupting in Southampton.

Posting to X on Friday, Vance said Nowak had died “the same way a civilisation dies: abandoned and handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him”.

The killing had been as “tragic as it is enraging” and Nowak, Vance said, would still be alive today “if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants”.

In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Lammy said he had called Vance to discuss his comments.

“I told him he was wrong,” Lammy said.

He said the pair had an “agreeable” conversation, adding he did not agree with Vance’s “caricature” of Western civilisation and its perceived decline.

Lammy said he reminded Vance that Nowak’s family had “called for calm” in what he described as “a robust conversation” with the vice-president.

“We remain colleagues and friends, we’re able to do that, and he has strongly held views,” Lammy said.

Henry Nowak’s father, Mark, had appealed for calm in a statement outside the court following the sentencing, saying: “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.”

Lammy and Vance have formed an unlikely friendship over the years and have met regularly since entering public office in their respective countries.

The friendship between the deputy prime minister and the vice-president began when Lammy was an opposition MP and Vance had just been elected to the US Senate.

Last summer, the vice-president and his family stayed with Lammy at his grace-and-favour home, Chevening, in Kent, during a holiday visit to the UK.

But the US-UK relationship has been rockier of late, particularly over the war in Iran after the British government decided to not join the Trump administration’s offensive military action in the Gulf.

Downing Street has criticised “people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division”, in response to Vance’s comments.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating Hampshire Police’s response to the Nowak case.

The head of Hampshire Police has told the BBC the force is “sorry for handcuffing and arresting Henry”.

A document outlining anti-racism commitments by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), which brings together leaders from forces across the UK, has come under scrutiny following Nowak’s murder.

The NPCC document says racial equality “does not mean treating everyone ‘the same’ or being ‘colour blind’”.

On Tuesday, the NPCC said it would review language used in the document.

Speaking to the BBC, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf argued there was a direct link between what he called police “guidance” and what happened to Nowak.

Yusuf said Reform UK had been respectful of the Nowak family’s wishes not to use the case to divide communities, after party leader Nigel Farage was criticised for calling on the public to respond with “pure, cold rage”.

“The only way we can ensure that we do not have another situation like the tragedy of Henry’s death is through political means,” Yusuf said.

“That’s why we’re going to continue to make the argument. And nobody is going to guilt trip us into not making these arguments.”

And asked if he believed the police were institutionally racist, Yusuf said he did, citing the NPCC document.

When he was asked about the NPCC document, Lammy said “we are all equal before the law”, but added “it is still the case that on arrest, on prosecution, conviction, I’m afraid in our prisons, ethnic minorities are disproportionately in the criminal justice system”.

Lammy also said “we’ve moved on from that period of institutional racism” that was “very real” in policing in the past.

“That’s not my experience when I see policing,” Lammy said.