Starmer accuses Musk of trying to ‘whip up division’ over Henry Nowak murder

Sophie Wingate and Helen Corbett, Press Association Political Staff

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Elon Musk of trying to “whip up division” in the UK over Henry Nowak’s murder and said Britain needs to “assert who we are” as “reasonable, tolerant people”.

The billionaire X owner has posted numerous times on his platform about the police response to the stabbing of the teenager in Southampton last year, criticising “how heinously Nowak was treated by the police in his dying moments”.

Violent protests erupted near where the 18-year-old was murdered amid an outcry over his treatment, after his killer Vickrum Digwa claimed he had been the victim of a racial attack, while Mr Nowak was handcuffed by police who ignored his pleas that he could not breathe as he lay dying.

The Prime Minister told reporters during a trip to York on Thursday: “We need to also assert who we are as a country, because Musk, again, has been interfering in our politics in the last few days, trying to whip up division – that is not who we are in Britain.

“In Britain, we are reasonable, tolerant people.

“When we have a terrible case like Henry’s case, Henry Nowak, we react calmly, as his family have done.”

It is not the first time the tech tycoon has waded into British politics, having last year started a war of words with the Government over grooming gangs and thrown his support behind activist Tommy Robinson.

The Prime Minister, a target of Mr Musk’s attacks, accused the world’s richest man of “spreading lies and misinformation” at the time and has also hit out at his AI chatbot Grok for creating sexualised images.

But Mr Musk’s intervention over Mr Nowak’s murder, which also saw him offer to fund a private prosecution of Hampshire Constabulary, has prompted what appears to be Sir Keir’s strongest direct condemnation of the billionaire yet.

The Prime Minister also told journalists Labour MP Jess Asato was “absolutely right” in taking legal action against Mr Musk’s xAI over “disgusting” images created of her.

Finance student Mr Nowak’s treatment by police has triggered a political row, with Sir Keir branding “unforgiveable” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s suggestion that the public should feel “pure, cold rage” about the case.

The Conservatives have called for the officers who arrested Mr Nowak on false racism claims to face a full misconduct investigation.

Asked about the Tories’ demand, Sir Keir said “there are questions that need to be answered” over the police response, and added that the Independent Office for Police Conduct should be given space to “get on with their job” in investigating the case.

“I think it’s right that there may need to be changes and we shouldn’t shy away from that,” the Labour leader said.

“But we really need to listen to Henry’s family, because they’re asking us, as politicians, as leaders, not to use his case to whip up division, not to cause disturbances. We have to listen to them.

“They’re grieving, they’ve lost their son, and so everything I’ve tried to do in relation to this case has been grounded in what they must be going through.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also stressed that Mr Nowak’s family “do not want anger to tear communities apart” after meeting with his mother, father and stepmother on Thursday morning.

She wrote on X: “They have asked that we work across political parties and religions to rebuild trust in the police. That trust has been broken because of what happened, and I agree with them on that.

“We must also be prepared to examine, carefully and seriously, religious practices or exemptions that permit the carrying of dangerous weapons in public, and other activities that are not conducive to the public good. We also need to examine where the law needs to change.”

Mrs Badenoch added that the family agreed with her that “we need to bring common sense back” to how equality is treated under the law.

She has previously called for an end to “two-tier policing” and to “terrible anti-racism training” for police, “which is just reverse racism”.

Meanwhile, Reform MP Robert Jenrick said it was “ludicrous” to suggest that Mr Farage’s response to the murder was stoking division.

Government minister Lucy Rigby earlier accused the Reform leader of stoking “anger, division” and effectively inciting “violence against some of our brave police officers”, after nearly a dozen officers were injured in clashes with protesters on Tuesday.

Mr Jenrick told GB News: “I was absolutely stunned by those ludicrous comments.

“There’s nothing that Nigel Farage has done which has encouraged division.

“He has simply shown leadership in setting out the course of action that now needs to be taken to make sure that we fix this problem and treat everybody equally before the law.”