David Lammy today revealed he has spoken to JD Vance to tell the US vice president he’s ‘wrong’ following his explosive comments on Henry Nowak’s murder.
Mr Vance on Friday partly blamed the 18-year-old’s death on the ‘mass invasion of migrants’ and said there should be ‘righteous anger’ at the case.
He also warned that Mr Nowak ‘died the same way a civilization dies’ in the latest intervention by Donald Trump’s administration over the student’s killing.
Mr Nowak was handcuffed by police who ignored his pleas that he had been stabbed as he lay dying after his killer, Vickrum Digwa, claimed to have been the victim of a racist attack.
Downing Street issued a forthright response to Mr Vance following his social media outburst on Friday – while Mr Lammy revealed he reiterated the Government’s disagreement with his ‘unhelpful’ remarks during talks on Saturday.
Mr Lammy told Sky News: ‘I spoke to the vice president yesterday, and I wanted to emphasise a number of things.’
The Deputy Prime Minister said he had told Mr Vance that Britain’s ‘democratic process is working well’ as he pointed to ongoing investigations into the police’s handling of the case, as well as a review of Digwa’s sentence and a rethink of police guidance on race issues.
Mr Lammy also said he voiced his disagreement with the vice president’s comments, adding: ‘This has got nothing to do with mass migration. This young man (Digwa) was a Brit. Let’s be clear about that.’
David Lammy revealed he has spoken to JD Vance to tell the US vice president he’s ‘wrong’ following his explosive comments on Henry Nowak’s murder
Mr Vance on Friday partly blamed the 18-year-old’s death on the ‘mass invasion of migrants’ and said there should be ‘righteous anger’ at the case
‘I said, ‘Look, Mr Vice President, you’re wrong about this,’ the Deputy PM added.
‘And it’s also the case that actually murder is coming down in the United Kingdom. So we had an agreeable conversation. But we disagree.’
Asked whether he had given Mr Vance a ticking-off, Mr Lammy said: ‘We had an agreeable conversation because we have got a relationship.
‘But I wanted to make it clear to him that I disagree with some of the facts that he was asserting and to present the facts to him.’
Mr Lammy said Mr Vance ‘has a longstanding concern about what he calls Western values, he actually was at pains to say, both in the United States and in here in Europe, which he believes are under attack’.
He added that they ‘disagree on that’ and that they ended the conversation ‘very amicably, talked about when we’re next going to see each other’.
Mr Lammy continued: ‘I also urged him that it’s not helpful to tweet in this way, partly because of what the Nowak family have asked for and reminded him about their desire not to make this an issue of division and hatred, but to make this an issue of common sense.’
In a later interview on Sunday morning, Mr Lammy said he and Mr Vance ‘remain colleagues and friends’ despite their ‘robust’ dispute over the vice president’s remarks about Mr Nowak’s killing.
Asked whether he thought Mr Vance was being racist, the Deputy PM told the BBC: ‘I reminded him that the family have called for calm, they don’t want division.
‘I reminded him also of the online space and how toxic that can become. So, we had a robust conversation, a respectful conversation.
‘We remain colleagues and friends, we’re able to do that, and he has strongly-held views.’
Mr Lammy added that Mr Vance had been ‘at pains’ to say his ‘concerns were as much about the United States as they are about’ the UK.
In a 200-word post on X on Friday, Mr Vance said Mr Nowak ‘should still be alive today’.
He added: ‘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.
‘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.
‘Anything else is an excuse.’
In response to Mr Vance’s comments, Downing Street hit out at ‘people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets’.
A No10 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.
‘Our politics should bring people together even in the most terrible of circumstances. That is who we are as a country.’
Mr Vance’s intervention came after 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. 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.
Attorney General Lord Hermer is also considering whether to refer the killer’s sentencing to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient scheme, Mr Lammy confirmed.
Senior Tory MP Claire Coutinho, the shadow equalities minister, also criticised Mr Vance’s intervention.
‘I didn’t like it when British politicians waded in on the case of George Floyd in America – I thought that was wrong,’ she told LBC.
‘And I don’t like it when US politicians do the same in these cases, because they’re too far removed from the family and the incident and the circumstances themselves.
‘I think we’re more than capable of having a robust debate within our body politics in Britain about what’s happened here… and it’s up to us to resolve those issues.
‘That is what should be at the forefront of our minds and what the family deserves.’
Ms Coutinho added that Mr Vance was ‘conflating two separate issues’.
‘Is there a problem with the levels of immigration that we’ve had in this country? Yes.’ she continued.
‘Is that what happened in this case? No, I don’t believe so. I don’t think it’s helpful when people are wading into politics across either side of the pond.
‘I would note there is plenty of people in our politics who are criticising JD Vance who are more than happy to do it the other way.
‘And, actually, I think we’ve all got to be quite careful about not getting involved in things that we don’t know about in other regions.’
