Sir Keir Starmer urged the nation to choose unity over hatred after a meeting with the family of murdered student Henry Nowak in which he told them he would take “whatever action is required to right the wrongs in this case”.
The Prime Minister said he was “profoundly humbled” to have a private discussion with the teenager’s family in Downing Street on Thursday afternoon, and said Mr Nowak “deserves a legacy that goes beyond this awful tragedy”.
The 18-year-old’s treatment by police has triggered a political row.
The Prime Minister has already urged politicians to heed the teenager’s relatives’ calls not to use the case “to cause disturbances” and branded Nigel Farage’s response “unforgiveable”.
The Reform leader hit back at the criticism, insisting he condemns “all violence” and has agreed to meet Mr Nowak’s family.
Sir Keir said after the meeting: “I was profoundly humbled to meet Henry Nowak’s family, Mark, Lucy and Katie, in Downing Street this afternoon, and to see their dignity and strength in the face of unimaginable pain.
“I was moved to learn more about Henry – his kindness, his warmth, and his love of football – and am grateful to his family.
“There is no doubt he had a bright future ahead of him, a future cruelly stolen from him in appalling circumstances.
“Henry deserves a legacy that goes beyond this awful tragedy, and I am committed to making that happen.
“I am determined that we do everything in our power to prevent other families from suffering such a devastating loss.
“There are difficult questions that need to be answered about the way the police handled Henry’s murder.
“The Independent Office for Police Conduct are investigating. We will be unflinching in taking whatever action is required to right the wrongs in this case.
“It is our duty now to ensure that lessons are learned, that justice is delivered and that we choose unity and progress over division and hatred. This is the only way to honour Henry’s memory.”
Violent protests erupted near where the student was fatally stabbed, 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.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has also stressed that Mr Nowak’s family “do not want anger to tear communities apart”, after meeting his mother, father and stepmother on Thursday morning.
Asked why he did not immediately condemn the scenes which saw nearly a dozen officers injured in clashes with protesters on Tuesday, Mr Farage told GB News: “Of course I condemn all violence. I always have… I’ve never, in 35 years of being in politics, advocated people going outside the law.
“When I did that big video that got all those millions of views, I was quite careful not to blame the police officers themselves too much.”
Asked about MPs who criticised him in the Commons on Wednesday, he said: “I’m more in touch with the great British public than they are on this.”
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham criticised Mr Farage during an appearance on the BBC’s Question Time by-election special.
He said: “I’m mayor of Greater Manchester, I know my words have consequences, all politicians do.
“If you give a preordained statement at 8am in the morning, believe me, you are well aware of what you say and what might happen later in that day.
“Those consequences were seen on the streets of Southampton, and the ringleaders of that violence used exactly the same words as the leader of the Reform party when they were orchestrating that violence.
“We must pull back from this type of politics, this poison dripping into our streets.”
Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon told the same programme that “violence is not the answer”.
Digwa has been 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.
Late on Thursday night, the US State Department intervened, posting on X: “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.”
Billionaire X owner Elon Musk has posted numerous times on his platform about the case, including to offer to fund a private prosecution of Hampshire Constabulary.
Sir Keir has accused him of “interfering in our politics in the last few days, trying to whip up division – that is not who we are in Britain”.
