David Lammy Challenges US Vice-President JD Vance Over Henry Nowak Murder Comments

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy directly challenged US Vice-President JD Vance regarding his assertions on the murder of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old British student.

Mr Lammy stated he informed Mr Vance that his comments, which blamed the death on a 'mass invasion of migrants' and advocated 'righteous anger', were 'wrong'. The Deputy Prime Minister explicitly told Mr Vance that the killing 'has got nothing to do with mass migration'.

Henry Nowak was fatally stabbed in Southampton last December by Vickrum Digwa, a British-born individual. Digwa, who falsely claimed he was racially abused and acted in self-defence, was subsequently jailed for life. Bodycam footage revealed police handcuffing Nowak as he lay dying, after Digwa misled officers by presenting himself as the victim of a racist assault.

Mr Vance, in a social media post, claimed Nowak died 'the same way a civilisation dies: abandoned and handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him'. He further contended that Nowak would be alive 'if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants'.

Mr Lammy recounted a 'robust conversation' with Mr Vance, noting the Nowak family's plea for calm, which expressly stated: 'We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.'

Despite this public disagreement, Mr Lammy confirmed that he and Mr Vance 'remain colleagues and friends'. Their acquaintance dates back to Mr Lammy's time as an opposition MP and Mr Vance's election to the US Senate. Last summer, Mr Vance and his family stayed at Chevening, Mr Lammy's grace-and-favour home.