Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has condemned violent protests witnessed outside a police station in Southampton after hundreds gathered to demand justice for Henry Nowak’s murder.
Speaking exclusively to GB News, Mr Farage was asked about the protest that resulted in two men being charged with assaulting a police officer and violent disorder.
Eleven officers and a dog were injured during the demonstration after protesters were filmed hurling bins and pelting missiles at the police.
When asked why he did not condemn the violence at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Mr Farage told GB News: “Because I warned there’d be even more violence unless we took some action.
“Isn’t it marvellous? 600 MPs all come together to say, ‘Let’s unite, let’s unite, let’s condemn the far-right thugs, let’s condemn them,’ but let’s do nothing.”
He added: “Of course, I condemn all violence, I always have, but what they don’t want to listen to in the Commons is that if you don’t get rid of the perception, reality, or both of two-tier policing, you finish up with lots and lots of angry young, white working-class men.”
Mr Farage had been accused of “inciting violence” for his response to Nowak’s murderer, Vickrum Digwa, receiving a life sentence.
Nowak, an 18-year-old finance student from Essex, was stabbed by Digwa five times on the way home from a night out in Southampton on December 3 last year.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage sat down for an interview with GB News
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GB NEWS
Harrowing bodycam footage showed officers dismiss Nowak’s cries about being stabbed, with one being heard replying: “I don’t think you have, mate.”
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary revealed the officers had been misled by Digwa over claims he had been the victim of a racially aggravated attack.
However, Nowak’s death has now raised concerns about “two-tier policing”, including whether officers prioritised claims of racism over the stabbed victim.
Mr Farage was heckled at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday with shouts of “incitement” and “condemn the violence” when he asked Sir Keir Starmer about “two-tier policing”.
Over a thousand protesters have gathered outside Southampton Central Police Station to demand that action be taken after the murder of Henry Nowak | GETTY
Sir Keir responded by telling the Clacton MP: “His response has been to appeal for rage.
“That’s his response to a father who lost his son and asked for this not to happen.
“Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstance, but to do it when the family have expressly said ‘please don’t,’ is unforgivable.”
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby, also told GB News: “The response that we had, unfortunately, from the leader of Reform, Nigel Farage, was to stoke anger and division, effectively inciting violence against some of our brave police officers.”
Henry Nowak was stabbed nine times by Vickrum Digwa who then claimed to officers that Henry had racially abused and assaulted him | FACEBOOK
During his sit-down interview with GB News, Mr Farage also defended the remarks he gave in his self-styled “emergency statement” on Tuesday morning.
The Reform UK leader was accused of inflaming tensions after his statement, with the BBC later having to issue an apology for misquoting Mr Farage as saying “white rage”.
However, Mr Farage claimed his remarks were delivered in a “careful” manner.
He told GB News: “I defy any fair-minded people to watch that video and not be angry.
The Reform UK leader hit out at Keir Starmer for being ‘out of touch’ with the British public | GB NEWS
“So, I wanted to express it as cold rage. Not hot anger, not violent outbursts.
“Cold rage means that you’re boiling inside about it, but you’re not in any way, and you’ve known me long enough.
“I’ve never, in 35 years of being in politics, advocated for people going outside the law. Not once.”
However, in an interview with GB News’ Chopper’s Political Podcast, Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said that Mr Farage’s remarks about the murder show he is not fit to be Prime Minister.
Asked whether Mr Farage’s remarks raised question marks about whether he can be a Prime Minister and “govern for the whole country”, Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “It makes him completely unfit.
“Prime Ministers have to be able to bring the country together. And it is a basic, basic duty of politicians, in my opinion, in situations like this to be able to condemn violence.
Nick Thomas-Symonds sits down with GB News | GB NEWS
“We’re talking about a sentence or two that he had to utter at the start of that question. That was the moment at Prime Minister’s Questions. That’s the moment.
“That’s the bit of Parliament every week that the public watches. That’s what the public sees.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who condemned Mr Farage’s language but called for a cross-party response, directly addressed Mr Farage’s response to Nowak’s murder.
Speaking to GB News during a visit to Warwickshire, Mrs Badenoch said: “What Nigel doesn’t like is people disagreeing with him.
“There are some things he says that I agree with. Sometimes I don’t necessarily like the way he says those things, but that’s politics.”