British Prime Minister 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 Nowak was handcuffed by police who ignored his pleas that he could not breathe as he lay dying.
The British 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 UK Government over grooming gangs.
Starmer, a target of 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 Musk’s intervention over Nowak’s murder, which also saw him offer to fund a private prosecution of Hampshire Constabulary, has prompted what appears to be Starmer’s strongest direct condemnation of the billionaire yet.
Finance student Nowak’s treatment by police has triggered a political row, with Starmer branding “unforgivable” 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 Nowak on false racism claims to face a full misconduct investigation.
Asked about the Tories’ demand, Starmer 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.”