Lammy Addresses JD Vance's Comments on Henry Nowak Case
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has revealed that he contacted US Vice-President JD Vance to inform him that his remarks regarding the murder of teenager Henry Nowak were "wrong."
Vance had attributed the death of the 18-year-old British student, who was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa last year, to the "mass invasion of migrants" and stated that the "only response" was "righteous anger."
Speaking to the BBC, Lammy said he spoke with Vance on Saturday and told him the killing "has got nothing to do with mass migration."
Details of the Murder and Legal Outcome
Digwa had falsely claimed he was racially abused and acted in self-defence after murdering Nowak in Southampton in December last year.
Digwa, who is British and was born in the UK, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, which he committed using a blade he asserted he carried for religious reasons connected to his Sikh faith.
Bodycam footage captured police handcuffing Nowak as he lay dying, following Digwa's false claim to officers that he was the victim of a racist attack.
The killing sparked intense debate about policing and knife laws in the UK, with violent protests erupting in Southampton.
JD Vance's Comments and Lammy's Response
On Friday, Vance posted on X that 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 stated he had called Vance to discuss his comments.
"I told him he was wrong," Lammy said.
He described the conversation as "agreeable," noting he did not concur with Vance's "caricature" of Western civilisation and its perceived decline.
Lammy also 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.
Family's Call for Calm
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's Relationship
Lammy and Vance have developed 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, Vance and his family stayed with Lammy at his grace-and-favour home, Chevening, in Kent, during a holiday visit to the UK.
However, the US-UK relationship has been more strained recently, particularly over the war in Iran after the British government decided not to join the Trump administration's offensive military action in the Gulf.
